Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
Party details:
PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams has wished National Alliance Read more
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — I wish to express a heartfelt THANK YOU to the voters who placed their trust in the Democratic Party of St. Maarten, and to all those who exercised their right to vote on September 26.
The voters have spoken and this must be respected. Congratulations go out to the 2016 DP team and in particular our Minister Lee with his impressive results at the polls Read more
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – The St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) wishes to thank the general public and particularly our 856 voters for your support and confidence in us during the 2016 Parliamentary Elections.
As a new party, we believe that we conducted a clean and transparent campaign that was focused on educating the electorate, demonstrating a zero tolerance towards vote buying and challenging our Parliamentarians to offer good representation to the People.
Preliminary results from the Main Voting Bureau indicate that we were 116 votes short of gaining a seat in Parliament Read more
PHILIPSBURG:--- I wish to express a heartfelt THANK YOU to the voters who placed their trust in the Democratic Party of St. Maarten and to all those who exercised their right to vote on September 26th. The voters have spoken and this must be respected. Congratulations go out to the 2016 DP team and in particular our Minister Lee with his impressive results at the polls. The 5 (new) parties that contested the election showed that our democracy is alive and well Read more
~ Six ‘new’ Parliamentarians ~
PHILIPSBURG--The United People’s (UP) party captured the most votes, but National Alliance (NA) and United St. Maarten Party (US Party) can be considered the winners, as they each picked up an additional seat, while the Democratic Party (DP) remained constant with its two seats after Monday’s Parliamentary election Read more
Alleged vote buying rampant on Monday.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The early elections called by the Governor St. Maarten, when it was requested by former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, did not change anything for St. Maarten, instead it opens the door for more instability. Another very unfortunate situation the election called on September 26th created was vote buying by at least one particular political party who also even refused to comply with the laws laid down by the Minister of Justice Read more
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Residents of the island went to the polls on Monday to elect some 15 persons to the House of Assembly.
Out of a total of 22, 302, some 13, 068 persons made use of the opportunity to cast their votes at the island’s 20 polling stations.
However, there were 373 invalid votes. Nine political parties were vying for seats in the Parliament of St. Maarten. Up to after 3 am this morning, the votes were still being tallied at the Main Voting Bureau, which was located at the House of Parliament Read more
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Voters in today’s election say they are deciding to hold their leaders accountable by going to the polls. More than 20,000 people could cast the vote in Monday’s parliamentary election, the second in two years.
For resident Jefferson George, voting today meant exercising his right and guaranteeing himself a say in how the island is run.
“Now that I vote I can have a say, I can complain. If I didn’t vote, I would just have to accept what they give,†George told 721news.com.
He was among the trickle of voters trooping into the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex in Cay Hill after 1:00pm Read more
By Alita Singh
PHILIPSBURG--The fate of the country of St. Maarten, just two weeks shy of its sixth birthday, and its 59,800 plus residents from more than 115 countries lies in the hands of 22,302 people. Those voters, privileged by birth or naturalisation with the Dutch nationality, head to the polls today, Election Day, to cast their ballots for one of the 125 candidates across the slates of nine political parties.
The number of eligible voters may change this morning when the Court of First Instance hands down its decisions on several petitions filed by people with Dutch nationality who registered in the Civil Registry after the Voters Register was closed on June 11 Read more
SIMPSON BAY--Too many “recycled promises†dating to 2014 and before are being fed to voters by political parties that have been in Government, while the Democratic Party (DP) has a proven track record, the red party leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams told supporters at the party’s final rally on Friday night in Simpson Bay Read more
The Grand Finale- Bigger And Better with an All-Star Panel.
Concordia:---- Recent guests on Fresh with the Y2X Crew, Jennifer Richardson da Silva of NA, May- Ling Chun of UP, Marinka Gumbs of DP, Angelina Williams of PPA, Anna Rabess-Richardson of USP, Mulrose Toulon of the St Read more
CUL DE SAC, St. Maarten - How will they reduce the brain-drain on St. Maarten, what plans or programs will they put in place to reduce crime among the youth on the island, and how can they diversify the economy instead of us relying on tourism as the major economic activity, were just some of the questions posed during Tuesday's panel discussion by students of several high schools to representatives of the nine political parties contesting the September 26 parliamentary elections.
The event, which was sponsored by St Read more
Cul de Sac:--- How will they reduce the brain-drain on St. Maarten, what plans or programs will they put in place to reduce crime among the youth on the island, and how can they diversify the economy instead of us relying on tourism as the major economic activity, were just some of the questions posed during Tuesday's panel discussion by students of several high schools to representatives of the nine political parties contesting the September 26 parliamentary elections.
CUL DE SAC, St. Maarten - St. Maarten Academy’s academic campus has taken the initiative to host a panel discussion with the representatives of the various political parties and high school students in the run-up to Parliamentary Elections.
The event, which takes place on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 under the theme, "Generation Hope; Our Future Leaders", will see an interactive discussion among the party representatives and students from the host school, Charlotte Brookson Academy, MAC Comprehensive High School, St Read more
PHILIPSBURG:--- As we approach the final week before the September 26th election, it is important that the voters and all residents of St. Maarten pay keen attention to the matters which conveniently surface again and those which are deliberately kept under wraps.At the DP's district meeting on Friday, September 16th in Dutch Quarter (next toMc Donald), the Democratic Party w Read more
THE HAGUE--The Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament has asked the Dutch Government for a formal response to the plea of the Democratic Party (DP) of St. Eustatius, to get the financial situation of the public entity St. Eustatius on the agenda of the Island Council.
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - On Monday September 12th, representatives from Sint Maarten's creative industries met at the John Larmonie Center to discuss their needs for growth, support & incentives over the next years in order to prepare a program that facilitates opportunities for further development.
This initiative was brought forward by DP candidate Jorien Wuite #3 who is dedicated to supporting our orange economy Read more
Demanded that UTS put her phone on after it was cut --- Management denied the request.
PHILIPSBURG: --- The scandals and abuse surrounding GEBE internal auditor whose contract might be terminated if the Supervisory Board of Directors does not buckle to political pressure coming from the Democratic Party has once again abused the privileges she has from the government-owned company.According to information reaching SMN News Daniel who was off island on vacation used the company phone while overseas and its roaming, until UTS cut the services of the phone due o the high usage Read more
PHILIPSBURG – Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club on Wednesday, September 7, in the evening held a session with the new political candidates on the different party lists for the upcoming election.
The University of St. Martin (USM) was the venue for this event. The parties contesting the upcoming election had the opportunity to send a candidate on their list that will participate for the very first time in the election process.
The following parties were represented: Help Our People Excel (HOPE) Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt; United St Read more
PHILIPSBURG, Sint maarten – Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club on Wednesday September 7th 2016 in the evening had a session with the new political candidates on the different party lists for the upcoming election.
The University of Sint Maarten was the venue for this event. The parties contesting the upcoming election had the opportunity to send a candidate on their list that will participate for the very first time in the election proces.
The following parties were represented: Help Our People Excel, HOPE in the person of Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt: United Sint Maarten Party, US in the person of Early Charlemagne; Democratic Party Read more
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — It is election time again. September 26 is just around the corner. The question is, “are you ready?â€
Youth 2 Xtreme (Y2X), the youth wing of Victorious Living Foundation, has the tools you need to be ready for the upcoming election. Y2X presents: Election Series 2016 on their weekly radio program, FRESH, on Youth Radio 92.5FM.
During this election series, candidates from various political parties have the opportunity to debate on important topics, such as education and health as well as to prove to you, the people of St Read more
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On September 8, countries all over the world are celebrating the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day.
The Democratic Party (DP) candidates have chosen to dedicate their time to take part in a project that involves taking the time to go to different schools or community after school programs and read to our youth. Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams took time to read to the students of the Seventh Day Adventist School (SDA) School, and Jorien Wuite read to the youths at the Sister Borgia School.
Other candidates have decided they will be donating some books to different organisations or ensuring that they spend time helping one of our youths to read and/or write Read more
PHILIPSBURG – The Democratic Party (DP) plans to officially launch its innovative outreach initiative where teams of four DP candidates will drive around various districts on a special DP public bus as well as catching other regular buses this Friday, September 8.
On the route, candidates will listen to citizens’ concerns, dreams and wishes for the future Read more
PHILIPSBURG:--- More skeletons are being found at GEBE that involves the internal auditor Sharine Daniel whose contract might be terminated after a hearing is held with her and the Supervisory Board of Directors.According to information provided to SMN News GEBE received a huge invoice from BDO an auditing firm whose contract was terminated as of January 1st, 2015 by the former board of Supervisory Directors.SMN News learnt that the former board terminated BDO because they felt the internal auditing department had sufficient staff and they were paying the main internal auditor NAF18,000.00 plus providing the person with a vehicle and other benefits and in their view the company did not need to pay an external auditor.However, the temporary management of GEBE received an invoice from BDO and are digging to see who rehired the company.A source within the company said that the former Temporary Manager Andrew Zaggers is the one who re-hired BDO to assist Sharine Daniel without informing the SBOD.Besides that SMN News learnt that members of the Democratic Party are putting severe pressure on the Chairman of the SBOD Roy Marlin to pull back the decision the board took to terminate Daniel for breach of trust after she took the company to court for an NAF.2.000.00 salary cut she endured when her contract was renewed on January 13th, 2016.According to sources with the company, the politicians that are supporting Daniel and her wrong doings refused to accept or even admit that Daniel abused the company and the government-owned company lost trust in her when she signed her working contract and shortly after took the company to court to contest the salary cut.SMN News further learnt that while the SBOD took a unanimous decision last week to terminate Daniel, some of the board members are now back peddling and trying to lay the blame on one or two board members.Another hot topic at GEBE that is being questioned is who is the Wartsila agent on St Read more