PHILIPSBURG — “Deadlines that would make it impossible for the Electoral Council to register new political parties do not exist.” This statement by the Council’s chairman Richard Gibson Jr. in a letter to the Pro Soualiga Foundation has triggered the question whether it is therefore possible for new political parties to register up to the day before the August 19 elections.
The answer to that question is: sure, but it does not mean that such a party can also take part in those elections.
Article 16, paragraph 2 of the national ordinance registration and finances political parties makes that clear: “A request for registration, submitted within six weeks before the date of Postulation Day, will not be handled for the subsequent elections.”
In a letter to the Electoral Council dated June 4, Pro Soualiga chairman Brison requested clarity about the deadline for new political parties to register and be eligible to participate in the upcoming snap elections. His question was obviously triggered by the fact that the national decree that establishes Election Day as August 19 does not contain a deadline for the registration of new political parties.
The Electoral Council points out that the registration process for new political parties “terminates at the Central Voting Bureau.”
Pro Soualiga urged the Electoral Council to take its solution for the potential violation of the Constitution into “serious consideration” before making any changes to the existing national decree that “according to your organization, might result in violating article 59.2 of the Constitution.”
The Electoral Council has however no role to play in this process, Gibson wrote; “The Electoral Council is not responsible for the drafting and issuance of national decrees. We respectfully suggest that you direct your thoughts and concerns to the competent authority.”
Related links & documents:
Letter Electoral Council to Pro Soualiga dated June 12, 2024
Letter to the Electoral Council dated June 4, Pro Soualiga
Pro Soualiga presents elegant solution for conflicts Article 59 of the Constitution with the electoral laws
Elections postponed until August 19
Pro Soualiga Letter to Nathalie Tackling re: Error in LB
Interim elections: “A dilemma about fundamental values”
New elections will be held on July 18
Governor on “current political developments”
OPINION PIECE
Deadlines
By Hilbert Haar
Deadlines for registering a political party at the Electoral Council do not exist, the Council’s chairman Richard Gibson Jr. wrote to the Pro Soualiga Foundation.
Some have experienced this statement as “stunning” but of course it is nothing new. One can register a political party at that Council any time.
To be eligible for taking part in the next elections though, that registration must take place outside the six weeks before Postulation Day. If you register your party too late, you will not be allowed to take part.
The question about the registration-deadline is part of a debate that is sparked by the omission of such a deadline in the national decree that sets the date for the upcoming elections at August 19.
One may well wonder if there was a need for adding such a deadline to the decree in the first place, because the national ordinance registration and finances political parties makes it clear: register more than six weeks before Postulation Day – or else.
The problem is of course that Election Day and Postulation Day as established in the national decree make it impossible for new political parties to register in time to contest the elections.
Is that, as some seem to think unconstitutional? I am not a constitutional expert (far from it) but it seems to me that there is no problem at all. I mean, citizens with plans to begin a new political party could have registered their association with the Electoral Council months ago. If they did not, they did not pay enough attention to the political quagmire that is so familiar to most of us in St. Maarten.
I mean, why wait until the government announces new elections? Registration is possible immediately after the most recent elections, on Valentine’s Day or on the day before Christmas. Whining that you have been robbed of your constitutional rights is a matter of too little, too late.
Statistically, St. Maarten holds elections (on average) every fourteen months or so. Therefore, anyone with political ambitions should register his or her party well before the announcement of new elections.
If you wait until the last moment, or you wait so long that you cannot register your party to enable participation in the next elections, voters may look at you as a Johnny come lately, or at least as someone who is unable (or unwilling) to look a little bit ahead.
I totally support the concept of living up to the rules laid down in our constitution and in our national ordinances. If you shove those rules aside, you are also saying goodbye to the principle of a constitutional democracy.
On the other hand, whining about something that has been on the books for many years and that you have ignored because it did not fit your agenda, is rather childish and makes you unfit to be elected as a member of our esteemed parliament.
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