PHILIPSBURG--The cost for parties to contest elections under the national ordinance on the registration and financing of political parties is too hefty and has the ability to sideline smaller, less-funded parties, United St. Maarten Party (USP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Frans Richardson said in Parliament Friday.
Richardson wants reform to come to the ordinance that covers the functioning of the Electoral Council, to make the process fairer for all.
The MP, speaking in a plenary session of Parliament with the Electoral Council, cautioned the representatives of the newly established and registered parties, who were present, about the difficulties they will face getting all their financing in order to comply with all legal requirements.
“It is very costly to run political parties,” he said, pointing out the high price tag for parties to get audited financial statements from a certified accountant. The electoral law is too stringent, he said.
The USP so far has been the only political party to be sanctioned under the law for not complying with financial obligations. The party did comply after the sanction and paid the fine levied by the Electoral Council. Richardson has since raised the need for the law not to hamper less financed parties.
Council Chairman Bert Hofman told MPs the General Audit Chamber also has concerns about the financial obligations of political parties. The Council will look into the concerns.
All financial statements from political parties that contest the 2014 elections, whether signed off by a certified accountant or not, have been reviewed by the General Audit Chamber, Hofman said.
The report of the Chamber is being reviewed by the Electoral Council and results will be made public in the coming weeks. The public can review the parties’ financial statements by appointment at the Electoral Council office.
MP Richardson said he was happy to hear the Audit Chamber shared his concerns and looks forward to reform.
Electoral Council Secretary Linda Richardson said it was “an expensive thing” to have a political party.
She also pointed out that due to the still somewhat newness of the law, the Electoral Council was not as strict as it should have been with financial submissions of the parties.
“Not everything we believed” from the political parties regarding their financial statements, she said. The Electoral Council heard some talk in the community, but opted to work with the financial statements received, because “everyone is getting accustomed to the law.”
Need for reform
To the new political parties, MP Richardson asked if they would not love for the current government to bring reform first and then hold elections. He said reform has to be left to the people who are committed to it.
Like MP Richardson, MP Rodolphe Samuel (NA) advised the new political parties to run for the right reasons when elections come. Samuel claimed a member of the St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) approached him saying the member brought “the word of God” to him saying that he must join SMCP. The MP said he made it clear he was not a ship jumper and was staying put with NA.
Members of the Coalition of Eight made it clear that opposition MPs were pushing the issue of elections on February 9, 2016, because they were upset about losing their majority in Parliament. Elections are due in 2018, therefore the move by the William Marlin Cabinet to cancel the October 29 national decree to dissolve Parliament and call snap elections does not trample any right of the people, the coalition MPs said.
The need for electoral reform was echoed by the members of the Coalition.
National Alliance (NA) MP Hyacinth Richardson said elections in February “makes absolutely no sense.” He thanked independent MPs Maurice Lake and Silvio Matser for leaving the United People’s (UP) party and joining with NA to better the country.
Independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo said she had deduced from the Electoral Council that all is in place for the decreed snap elections.
Independent MP Cornelius de Weever called into question whether Governor Eugene Holiday was in a place of conflict of interest with the new decree to cancel the election as his term will soon come to an end and there is a possibility of renewal.
Know the law
Electoral Council Secretary Linda Richardson admonished MPs, as she had done when the Council was present in Parliament for the first time last year, to read the national ordinance and understand its contents. She said MPs should know the answers to many of the questions they posed to the Council.
Although MPs had signed declarations with the Electoral Council when they were candidates for the 2014 election stating they knew the law, it was “clear” from the meeting they “don’t know the law,” she said. She advised all MPs and aspiring MPs “to read the law” and invited them to visit the Council for advice and clarifications.
MP Samuel rebutted saying MPs knew the law and many of the answers, but they were asking the questions “for the public … the answers are not for us.”
A number of questions from MPs could not be answered by the Electoral Council. Answers will be provided by the Council by December 22.
Friday’s meeting was called by independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo together with MPs Theo Heyliger and Franklin Meyers of UP party. However, the two UP members were absent with notice from the meeting. Members of the Coalition of Eight signed in to form a quorum for the public session. Marlin-Romeo thanked the members for their signatures.
