Nine parties have announced they will be submitting candidate lists for the September 26 election on Monday (see schedule in paper).
Five of them without current representation in Parliament will then have to gather the support of 146 voters during two days to qualify.
With a total of 22,302 registered voters, a turnout similar to that of about 69 per cent in 2014 translates to just over 1,000 votes needed
for one of the 15 seats in the legislature, compared to 967 two years ago.
This can be seen as a threshold, because while there are always residual seats, only parties that earn a first seat outright compete for them.
People should also note that so-called blank votes are counted, but don’t actually influence the final outcome. So, other than making a general statement of protest, they accomplish very little.
It will be interesting to see which of the “newcomers” ultimately get to participate and how well they will do. In the past, the political landscape in St. Maarten had been characterised by only one or two major parties, but that might be changing somewhat.
Most would obviously like to have a majority in Parliament so they can govern on their own, but recent experience shows the likelihood of this happening is not that great. Chances are a coalition will again be required, which basically means the biggest party won’t necessarily be in government.
The term “winning” an election is therefore a bit misleading, unless eight or more seats are obtained. A comparison with their last result and to what extent they grew or shrank is usually the way success of parties that already existed before is best measured.
