Since its establishment, the Electoral Council has been diligent in providing accurate information to the public in a manner that minimizes all ambiguity or controversy. For this reason, the Electoral Council has been very hesitant to publicize the names of political parties that applied for registration or that were registered.
However, recent reports seem to have created anxiety in the community during this historic electoral process. In order to stem unnecessary speculations and concerns, the Electoral Council would like to give clarity in regards to the registration of the political parties to the general public.
Both the United People’s Party (UP) and the Citizens for Positive (CPC) have completed their registration process and have been registered by the Electoral Council since April 2014. Also, the Social Reform Party (SRP), which had attempted to register before the establishment of the Council, was also registered by the Electoral Council after completing the registration process.
After the announcement of the deadline for registration, five (5) political parties applied for registration last week to be able to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections. These parties are: the Democratic Party (DP), the United St. Maarten Party (USP), the One St. Maarten People Party (O.S.P.P.), the National Alliance (NA), and the Concordia Political Alliance (CPA).
The Electoral Council would like to emphasize that an application for registration, as in the cases of the aforementioned parties, does not automatically mean that the party is registered. There is a registration process which includes the review of the application to ensure that the party complies with the law. Therefore, the applications and accompanying documents of the 5 parties that applied for registration last week, are now under review by the Electoral Council.
After review of the documents received, the Electoral Council will contact these parties to notify them of its findings.
In the event, no objections can be found to register these parties according to the requirements laid down in the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties, there is a possibility that 8 political parties will contest in the upcoming Parliamentary elections on St. Maarten.
