The Prime Minister of St. Maarten is emphasizing the importance of educating the electorate on the electoral and campaign laws as it pertains to the 2014 elections: "The matter of electoral reform is something that not only do I feel that we should be working on but it is a general sentiment in our community it has been expressed in our Parliament. There are persons in our community that have written, spoken and have argued on the topic of electoral reform. When you have a topic that lives so much in the community it behooves Government to listen to it and address it. In this particular case there is a role for Parliament to play. The two most important laws to be taken into considerations with regards to elections would be our electoral law and the law on registration and financing of political parties. Both of these laws are on the basis of the constitution for country St. Maarten and establish the basis of fair and open elections.
"While Parliament states in the motion that Government has to amend the law it is Parliament that has to decide on the amendment of the laws. Parliament is asking Government to regulate but Government can only propose. It is up to Parliament to decide upon its amendment. However, when I look at this motion it is clear that to a very great extent these items are already listed in our Criminal Code, making these acts punishable by law.
"Last year MP Frans Richardson publicly made a statement asking the Prime Minister to pay attention to the fact that the motion is there and I responded that these matters are already regulated. I have sent an in writing response to Parliament suggesting to check the penal and criminal code where many of the items that were outlined in the motion listed therein," stated Wescot-Williams.
The Prime Minister also emphasized that it is also necessary to create the social consciousness amongst the voting population regarding issues related to vote buying and that there are consequences both for the voter and for the politician for breaking these laws: "It is about educating the people about the electoral process and what is allowed and what is not allowed. We do not need to reinvent the wheel but we need to create the consciousness as to what needs to happen and we need to control what is going on. Certain behavior will not change over night but I want the people to understand that these things are not allowed under the law. I am still awaiting Parliament to give me the opportunity to invite me to give elucidation to explain the motions of electoral reform," concluded the PM