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Snap general elections were held in Sint Maarten on 26 February 2018 following a no confidence vote in the Second Marlin cabinet. [1]
In November 2017, a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister William Marlin and some other ministers was accepted in Parliament, due to Marlin's position in the negotiation with the Dutch government about anti fraud measures and aid funds in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. [2] After the motion of no confidence was accepted, Marlin tendered the resignation of his cabinet to governor Eugene Holiday and requested elections to be held. [3] It is the second early election in a row since the Gumbs cabinet fell in 2015. [4]
The 15 seats in the Estates were elected by proportional representation. [5] In order to participate in the election, new parties and parties without a seat in parliament were required to obtain at least 142 signatures; 1% of the valid votes of the 2016 parliamentary elections. [6]
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Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
United Democrats | 5,748 | 42.41 | 7 | 0 | |
National Alliance | 4,139 | 30.54 | 5 | 0 | |
United St. Maarten Party | 1,788 | 13.19 | 2 | –1 | |
St. Maarten Christian Party | 1,181 | 8.71 | 1 | +1 | |
St. Maarten Development Movement | 416 | 3.07 | 0 | 0 | |
People's Progressive Alliance | 280 | 2.07 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 13,552 | 100.00 | 15 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 13,552 | 97.13 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 401 | 2.87 | |||
Total votes | 13,953 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 22,559 | 61.85 | |||
Source: Government of Sint Maarten |
A motion or vote of no confidence is a formal expression by a deliberative body as to whether an officeholder is deemed fit to continue to occupy their office. The no-confidence vote is a defining feature of parliamentary democracy which allows the elected parliament to either affirm their support or force the ousting of the cabinet. Systems differ in whether such a motion may be directed against the prime minister only or against individual cabinet ministers.
The National Alliance is a political alliance in Sint Maarten, formed by the Sint Maarten Patriotic Alliance (SPA) and the National Progressive Party (NPP). It is one of main political parties within Sint Maarten. At the legislative elections in the Netherlands Antilles, 18 January 2002, the alliance won 4.8% of the popular vote of Sint Maarten and 1 out of 22 seats. At the elections in the Netherlands Antilles of 27 January 2006, it won one extra seat.
The Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten represents the constituent country of Sint Maarten in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The current Minister Plenipotentiary is Rene Violenus.
The prime minister of Sint Maarten became the head of government of Sint Maarten after the Netherlands Antilles had been dissolved on 10 October 2010. The prime minister, together with the Council of Ministers and the governor of Sint Maarten, form the executive branch of the government of Sint Maarten. Sint Maarten's current prime minister is Silveria Jacobs.
Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has a government formed by the monarch, represented by the governor, and the ministers. The prime minister presides the council of ministers. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The minister plenipotentiary is not part of the government and represents the Sint Maarten government in the Netherlands. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The country is a parliamentary representative democratic country with a multi-party system. Sint Maarten has full autonomy on most matters, with the exceptions summed up in the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the title "Kingdom affairs". The Constitution of Sint Maarten was ratified in September 2010, and entered into force on 10 October 2010.
Sarah A. Wescot-Williams is the leader of the Democratic Party of Sint Maarten and the first Prime Minister of Sint Maarten. Even though her party only managed to secure two seats in the Sint Maarten general election of 2010, she was selected as Prime Minister in the coalition agreement between United People and the Democratic Party.
The First Wescot-Williams cabinet was the first Cabinet of Sint Maarten installed following the achievement of constituent country status of Sint Maarten within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 10 October 2010. Government formation followed the September 2010 Sint Maarten general election, which saw the National Alliance emerge as the largest party. Nevertheless, the coalition was formed by the Democratic Party and the United Peoples party. Despite only winning two seats, the office of Prime Minister was delivered by DP's head Sarah Wescot-Williams.
The United People's Party is a political party in Sint Maarten founded in 2010. The party currently holds four seats in the Parliament of Sint Maarten.
Marcel Faustiano Augustin Gumbs is a Sint Maarten politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Sint Maarten from 2014 to 2015. He was selected as Prime Minister in the coalition agreement between the United People's Party and the independent Members Parliament Cornelius de Weever and Leona Marlin-Romeo. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, he served as a member on the Sint Maarten Council of Advise.
The Gumbs cabinet was a coalition cabinet in Sint Maarten formed by the United People's Party and independent members of Parliament Cornelius de Weever and Leona Marlin-Romeo.
William Marlin is a Sint Maarten politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Sint Maarten from 2015 to 2017. Marlin was the leader of the National Alliance, and was the leader of the First and Second Marlin cabinet.
General elections were held in Sint Maarten on 26 September 2016.
The Second Marlin cabinet was the sixth Cabinet of Sint Maarten installed following the achievement of constituent country status of Sint Maarten within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 10 October 2010. The cabinet was a coalition between the National Alliance, the United St. Maarten Party and the Democratic Party.
Rafael A. Boasman was Prime Minister of Sint Maarten from 24 November 2017 to 15 January 2018. From 20 December 2016 to 15 January 2018, Boasman was also the Minister of Justice. He was also Minister of Healthcare, Social Development, and Labor from 7 September 2015 to 19 November 2015 and Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications from 20 December 2016 to 4 April 2017.
The first Marlin-Romeo cabinet was the seventh cabinet of Sint Maarten. It was a caretaker government formed by the United Democrats – a merger of the United People's Party and the Democratic Party, which was joined by the independent Member of Parliament Chanel Brownbill. The cabinet was installed by Governor Eugene Holiday on 15 January 2018 and was led by Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo.
Jorien Wuite is a Sint Maarten-Dutch civil servant, diplomat, and politician. Born in The Hague, she moved to Sint Maarten aged 32 to work in government. She rose to the position of Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports and served as Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten in the period 2018–19. She moved back to the European part of the Netherlands due to her election to the House of Representatives in 2021 as a member of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66).
The second Marlin-Romeo cabinet was the 8th cabinet of Sint Maarten. It was formed by a coalition of the political parties United Democrats (UD) and the St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP).
Silveria Elfrieda Jacobs is a Sint Maarten politician and the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten as of 2019.
The Jacobs cabinet was the 9th cabinet of Sint Maarten. It was part of the executive branch of the Sint Maarten Government and was formed by members of the National Alliance and the United St. Maarten Party. It was followed by the second Jacobs cabinet installed after the 2020 snap general election.
Snap general elections were held in Sint Maarten on 9 January 2020, two years earlier than scheduled, following the dissolution of the Second Marlin-Romeo cabinet in September 2019.