Today 22,559 Dutch-side citizens have the right to choose a new Parliament. The 15 elected members will then appoint a Council of Ministers to govern the country.
During the most recent – also snap – election in September 2016 there were 257 fewer eligible voters and the turnout was 65 per cent, which translated to a seat quota of 947 votes.
Unless a significantly larger percentage casts a valid ballot this time around, the threshold for each of the six participating parties to get into the legislature should remain just below 1,000 votes. As known, only candidate lists that have already earned a seat outright can subsequently vie for so-called “residual seats.”
There was some concern that the turnout could be very low due to the still dire social conditions on the island following the catastrophic passage of Hurricane Irma last September, particularly due to residents having been displaced and damage suffered by Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS). An effort was made to address this by first making voting cards available for pick-up in several areas during one week before delivering the rest to homes and taking what finally remained to the Civil Registry to be collected there.
It will nevertheless be interesting to see how many persons vote, also because there had been considerable opposition against going back to the polls again under the current circumstances when announced. There were organisational challenges too and the original date of early January was postponed to the end of February.
However, this is clearly anything but a normal election and not just because it came early. The country finds itself in an extraordinary situation, with the hospitality industry that drives its economy and especially the dominant stayover tourism sector very hard-hit.
The consequences of the latter in terms of strongly reduced income and job loss are increasingly being felt. It is essential that projects to be executed from the 550 million euros the Netherlands made available via the World Bank start soon to soften the blow and have an immediate impact in terms of maintaining or creating employment and pumping much-needed money into the economy.
It’s also important to do whatever is possible to help get the closed major resorts back open quickly, preferably before the 2018/2019 high season. That and general improvements of the product are to ensure the destination’s restored livelihood for the near future.
