Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | URSM |
Leader | Luc Mercelina [1] |
Founder | Luc Mercelina |
Founded | 10 October 2021[2] |
Split from | UP Party |
Ideology | Autonomism [3] |
Colours | Teal |
Parliament of Sint Maarten | 2 / 15 |
Website | |
ursm.sx | |
The Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement is a political party in Sint Maarten. It was founded in October 2021 by Luc Mercelina, who was at the time a member of Parliament for the United People's Party. [2] The party contested the January 2024 general election winning two seats, [4] and later entered a coalition agreement with the Democratic Party, Party for Progress and Nation Opportunity Wealth that designated URSM party leader Luc Mercelina as new Prime Minister. [5]
Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 2024 | Luc Mercelina | 2,028 | 14.04% | 2 / 15 | New | Coalition |
Aug 2024 | Luc Mercelina | 2,224 | 16.24% | 3 / 15 | +1 | Coalition |
The Democratic Party Sint Maarten is a political party in Sint Maarten. The party was long associated with its powerful leader, business tycoon Claude Wathey. Wathey stepped down from his leadership post in 1992. The party was dissolved in 2017 and refounded in 2023.
The National Alliance is a political party 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 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 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 Luc Mercelina.
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.
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 St. Maarten Party is a political party in Sint Maarten founded in 2013 by the former National Alliance deputy leader Frans Richardson. The party currently holds one seat in the parliament of Sint Maarten. In the 2014 general elections, the party obtained two seats, but its then MP-elect Leona Marlin-Romeo left the US Party and became an independent member of parliament.
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, undertaker, and politician who serves as a Member of Parliament since 2024. He previously served as an MP from 2014 to 2019 and 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.
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 former Prime Minister of Sint Maarten from 2019 to 2024.
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.
Island Council elections were held in Sint Eustatius on 21 October 2020. Sint Eustatius is a special municipality of the Netherlands. The elections were originally to be held on 20 March 2019, but were postponed due to administrative intervention by the Dutch government. On 23 September 2019, a new election date was announced.
General elections were held in Sint Maarten on 11 January 2024.
Luc F. E. Mercelina is a surgeon and politician from Sint Maarten and the current Prime Minister as of 3 May 2024. He is the founder and leader of the Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement (URSM). He was also a member of the United Democrats (UD) and the United People's Party (UP).
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.
Snap general elections were held in Sint Maarten on 19 August 2024, following the early dissolution of the parliament elected in January.