Election for country
by the end of 2008
OYSTER POND--According to the rules and regulations of the Island Territory, no elections will take place in St. Maarten for the time being. But for the new entities to go into effect, elections have to take place to choose members of parliament.
Project Director of Constitutional Affairs Dennis Richardson said that the elections in question could be made possible with a change in the Charter of the Kingdom. “The elections are planned to take place in October or November 2008 as the change of status is scheduled to go into effect by December 15, 2008,” Richardson said.
Richardson does not agree with the claim that it would take too long to amend the law and draft consensus Kingdom laws to make the elections possible for next year, among other things. “That is one of the debates that are ongoing at the moment with the Dutch representatives on the negotiating teams. We fail to see why it has to take that long,” Richardson said.
He continued: “Their position is that they do not have the Council of State or Parliament in their pockets. They assume a long period of time for decision-taking.”
Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams, in referring to the electoral system to be used, said the draft constitution stated that country St. Maarten will have the same electoral system as the current one but that in the PCCA meeting it has been tabled that the matter should be further discussed.
