United Democrats wins snap elections called for SXM

The voters have spoken in the snap elections which was scheduled for February 26^th.2018. Expectations were high on the part of both large parties, the NA (National Alliance) and the joint list UD (United Democrats), to have won an outright win. That was not the case for either of the parties, however, the United Democrats still manage to come away with a 7 seats majority win in our 15 seat Parliament. The remainder of 8 seats were shared between NA getting 5, 2 for the USP and 1 for the SMCP.

The atmosphere surrounding the polling stations across the Island were somewhat subdued for the most part which can be interpreted that the voters were not bombarded with any influence prior to entering into the polling stations thereby allowing them to ponder their decisions as to who they were willing to support.

The National Alliance campaigned on the platform of having done nothing wrong but was on top of the situation after the hurricane and was busy working for the people even before Irma hit, while at the same time blaming the chair lady of Parliament and leader of the DP Sarah Wescot Williams and MP Brownbill who defected from the USP and help to create the shift in Parliament which led to the fall of Government. That message did not sway voters to vote overwhelmingly for the NA but what was evident from the results was the base support of the NA gave them back the 5 seats they have always had

The winning UD (United Democrats) on the other hand mobilized their base and unify their two parties the DP (Democrat Party) and UP (United People’s Party) under one umbrella and presented a UD (United Democrats) list, led by UP leader Theodore Heyliger. They pounded heavily on their political platform, pointing a failing finger at the ruling National Alliance led government at the time with its former leader William Marlin being the Prime Minister. Marlin has since stepped down as leader of the party. In their campaign they focused their attention on the failure of the William Marlin led Government to secure the 550 000 000 Euro recovery money promised by the Dutch and the deteriorating relationship with the Dutch Government, at a time when St. Maarten was on its back. The voters seem to buy more into that message and voted massively for the UD giving them 7 seats. They will now have to take the lead to form a new government for the Island. The Governor at this time was holding consultations with all parties that have won seats in the parliamentary elections, in order to begin the process of forming a government.

The following are the designated members of Parliament elect for 2018.