Grisha S. Heyliger-Marten (born 28 July 1976) is a politician from Sint Maarten. [1] She was President of the Parliament of Sint Maarten from november 2021 to October 2022, as a member of the United People's Party. [2]
She was first elected to the Parliament of Sint Maarten in the 2020 general election. [1]
The Sint Maarten national football team is the football team of Sint Maarten, the Dutch half of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, and is controlled by the Sint Maarten Football Federation. Sint Maarten is not a member of FIFA, and therefore not eligible to enter the World Cup. However, the association applied for FIFA membership in 2016 but was rejected. In April 2022, the Sint Maarten Soccer Association appealed to the CAS against FIFA’s ruling.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Aruba and Curaçao, which are constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The islands are obliged to conduct same-sex marriages following a ruling from the Supreme Court of the Netherlands on 12 July 2024. In September 2021, a lower court in Curaçao ruled that preventing same-sex couples from marrying violates the equality provisions of the Constitution of Curaçao, but left the decision of whether to legalise same-sex marriage up to the Parliament of Curaçao. In December 2022, the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba ruled on appeal that Aruba's and Curaçao's same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional. The court order was set to go into effect on 7 March 2023 if not appealed to the Supreme Court; however, the governments of both Curaçao and Aruba subsequently appealed. On 12 July 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in Aruba and Curaçao with immediate effect.
Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of 34 km2 (13 sq mi), it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northern 56% of the island constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. Sint Maarten's capital is Philipsburg. Collectively, Sint Maarten and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.
Johannes de Graaff (1729–1813), also referred to as Johannis de Graeff in some documents, was a Dutch Governor of Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles representing the Dutch West India Company during the difficult time of the American Revolutionary War.
The Parliament of Sint Maarten is a unicameral legislature that consists of 15 members, each elected for a four-year term in a general election. The first parliament was installed on 10 October 2010, the date of the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, and consisted of the members of the predecessor island council elected on 17 September 2010. The current President of Parliament is Sarah A. Wescot-Williams.
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 Patrice Gumbs with Gracita Arrindell as the acting deputy.
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 of Sint Maarten presides over 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. Wescot-Williams is the current President of Parliament, a role she has occupied on five separate occasions. 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.
Marten is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
The United People's Party is a political party in Sint Maarten founded in 2010.
Heyliger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The president of the Parliament of Sint Maarten is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Sint Maarten. According to Article 8 of the Rules of Order of Parliament the president presides over the sittings of the House and enforces the rules prescribed in the Rules of Order of Parliament for the orderly conduct of parliamentary business. The president is supported by a team of vice presidents, divided into a first vice president and second vice president, who are also members of the House. In the event that the president is unable to lead a meeting the meeting is chaired by the first vice president.
Franklin Antonio Meyers is a Sint Maarten businessman and United People's Party politician who serves as a Member of Parliament since 2014. He was Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications in the First Wescot-Williams cabinet from 2010 to 2012.
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 United Democrats was a political party on Sint Maarten. The party was originally a merger between the Democratic Party (DP) and the United People's Party (UP). The UP left and re-established itself in 2020, leaving the United Democrats as essentially a direct continuation of the Democratic Party, and after the latter was reformed in 2023, the UD became essentially defunct.
Silveria Elfrieda Jacobs is a Sint Maarten politician and the former Prime Minister of Sint Maarten from 2019 to 2024.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Sint Maarten, also known as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Sint Maarten, was a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten on 17 March 2020. By 15 June, all cases recovered. On 1 July, a new case had been discovered, which resolved on 3 July On 15 July, a 79th case was discovered.
Gracita Arrindell is a Dutch politician, writer and women's rights activist, who was the first President of the Parliament of Sint Maarten, a role she held for two non-consecutive terms.
Rhoda Arrindell is a Sint Maartener linguist and advocate for the independence of Sint Maarten. St. Maarten is a territory of the Netherlands in the Caribbean.
The Mercelina cabinet is the 11th Council of Ministers of Sint Maarten headed by Prime Minister Luc Mercelina. It was installed by Governor Ajamu Baly on 3 May 2024.