The day after

Theo Heyliger is once again the highest vote-getter in the country. He is the only person to earn his seat outright with 1289 votes. The threshold was 903 votes to get your own seat. The only other candidate to come close to this number is NA leader Silveria Jacobs with 896 votes.

We commend the SMCP with their first seat in their second showing. We have used this platform in the past to indicate why we thought the SMCP would do well. The secret to Wycliffe Smith’s success is not disappearing from the political arena after the 2016 elections.

The coming days will show whether the biggest party will follow the advice of the SMCP to follow the process in forming a government by starting out by appointing an informateur and consulting all the parties about their thoughts on possible coalitions.

It was a long day on election day. The voter turnout of 62% turned out to be not so bad as expected. We are also proud of the St. Maarten people who have exercised their democratic rights despite the odds.