Mercedes “Elektra” van der Waals-Wyatt
PHILIPSBURG--Six new political parties had submitted their applications to register to contest the February 9 snap elections by the Monday, November 9, deadline.
The new parties are Helping Our People Excel Association (HOPE); St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP); Millennial Advancement Party (MAP); St. Maarten Development Movement (SDM); Beyond St. Maarten Development (Beyond SXM); and People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA), the Electoral Council announced in a press release on Monday.
Radio personality Mercedes “Elektra” van der Waals-Wyatt has indicated that she is the leader of HOPE, former pastor Wycliffe Smith stated he was the leader of SMCP and Loekie Morales that she had established Beyond SXM.
Loekie Morales
The parties also applied to register their references which will be placed above the lists of candidates on nomination day, December 22, the Electoral Council said in a press release on Monday.
The Concordia Political Alliance Association (CPA) also had applied to re-register the reference CPA to be placed above its list of candidates after the Electoral Council deleted the reference due to the party’s lack of participation in the August 29, 2014, elections.
The Electoral Council will review the six applications and accompanying documents in the coming weeks and will examine whether they are in compliance with the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties. If no objections are found to register the parties, each party and the Main Voting Bureau will be notified of the Electoral Council’s decision, the release said.
If all requirements are not met, the Electoral Council will invite the party’s representative to discuss omissions or errors and the party will be given seven business days to make the necessary corrections or amendments.
“Once these improvements have taken place within the allotted time, the Electoral Council will re-evaluate the improvements for compliance with the National Ordinance. However, if the party does not make the necessary corrections and improvements within the stipulated time, the Electoral Council will not be able to register the party and the party will not be able to contest the upcoming elections of February 9, 2016,” the Council said.
In such situations, the party may file an appeal with the Court of First Instance within six days after the decision of the Electoral Council. The Court’s decision cannot be appealed.
