
A missed opportunity
By Hilbert Haar Maybe it is just me but I was severely scratching my head when I read the questions in the survey launched by Prime Minister Jacobs as part of her electoral reform campaign. I mean, if you intend More...

PM Jacobs launches electoral reform campaign
PHILIPSBURG — Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs “spearheads” an electoral reform campaign, a press release from the Ministry of General Affairs states. The release announces the initiative for a survey to More...

Never a dull moment
By Hilbert Haar A political crisis? I don’t think so. Of course, it is unique that the only two members of the United St. Maarten party (USp) – Claudius Buncamper and Akeem Arrindell – have declared More...

Arrindell wants more action from Electoral Reform committee
PHILIPSBURG – The parliamentary ad-hoc committee Electoral Reform has to become more active ahead of the elections that are scheduled for 2024, Gracita Arrindell, leader of the extra-parliamentary political More...

Electoral reform: the Lynch-law under review – part 2/2
~ Curacao sticks to system that favors position on candidate-list ~ PHILIPSBURG – St. Maarten’s current electoral law – oft referred to as the Lynch-law after its architect – determines that candidates More...

Electoral reform: the Lynch-law under review – part 1/2
PHILIPSBURG — The discussion about electoral reform will soon be in full swing, whereby the focus will be on the Lynch-law – actually, an article in the current electoral law that determines who gets elected: More...

MP Buncamper requests subcommittee meeting on Electoral Reform
PHILIPSBURG — United St. Maarten Party (USP) Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius Buncamper has sent a letter to the Chairlady of the Ad-Hoc Committee for Electoral Reform, MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten, requesting More...

Reforming politicians
By Hilbert Haar The amendments to election-related ordinances proposed by Sint Maarten Christian Party leader Wycliffe Smith seamlessly solve the existing conflicts between these ordinances and the constitution. Article More...

Amendments bring election ordinance in line with the Constitution
PHILIPSBURG – Rather than come up with a comprehensive package for electoral reform, MP Wycliffe Smith, in his role as caretaker prime minister, already suggested amendments to the Election Ordinance and the More...

The H-Factor
Leader of the SMCP, Wycliffe Smith, writes in an article about the H-Factor. Already on November 7, 2019, during an ad hoc committee meeting on electoral reform, the former MP Claude Chacho Peterson proposed that More...