~ Negotiations will begin as early as Monday for Unity List--- Mussington.
MARIGOT:--- Rassemblement Saint Martin (RSM) took a narrow lead in the first round of the territorial elections held on Sunday, March 20th, 2022. Of the 8,732 persons that voted some 2,128 (25.39%) persons voted for the RSM led by Louie Mussington.
Team Gibbs led by incumbent President Daniel Gibbs received 2,074 votes (24.74%), while Generation Hope received 1,465 votes (17.48%), Alternative received 934 votes (11.14%), Avenir Saint-Martin received 626 votes (7.47 %) and Saint Martin Avec Vous received 1,155 votes. (13.78%)
Of the 18,962 registered voters, only 8,732 persons cast their votes on Sunday, based on the preliminary results that were presented at the end of election day it showed that 10,230 persons did not vote, which represents 54% percent of the registered voters.
Leader of the RSM Louie Mussington said that his team will begin negotiations as early as Monday to form the unity list they wanted to present from the very beginning. He said it is clear that “together we are stronger” based on the results they received on Sunday. Mussington said based on the preliminary results on Sunday it showed that there was an increase in voters turn out from 2017. The RSM leader said that his team is very strong which led to their semi-success on Sunday. Mussington said that from the voters turn out in this first round more than 6000 of the voters voted against the incumbent president and that in itself is a message from the people of St. Martin. “There is a cry for unity and new leadership in this country and his team will be part of the discussion to ensure there is the new leadership.”
The RSM leader and his team intend to do everything in their power to ensure the voters' registration is up to date since several persons were unable to vote on Sunday because their names are no longer on the voters' register. He said if it means that they have to approach the judge early this week that will be done since people that had proxies were not able to vote.
Incumbent President Daniel Gibbs said that despite being behind RSM he believes he did great because some persons that were part of TEAM Gibbs in 2017 left the party and formed their own lists. Gibbs said he also started his campaign very late, however, he feels that with the program he has in a place he is confident that the second round will be better for him. He asked what 54 votes are when there are six lists that contested the 1st round. Asked if he would enter into negotiations with Alternative and Avenir since both parties are people that were part of his team and government for the past 5 years. Gibbs said that he would place his focus on the 54% of the people that did not come out to vote this first round. He made clear that the battle is not over and there will be a second-round next week.
Click here for the Final Results.
