Parliament of Sint Maarten

Parliament of Sint Maarten

Staten van Sint Maarten
Parliament of Sint Maarten ; Staten van Sint Maarten
5th Parliament of Sint Maarten
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	10 October 2010
Leadership
Monarch	King Willem-Alexander
Governor	Ajamu Baly
Prime Minister	Luc Mercelina, URSM ; since 3 May 2024
President of Parliament	Sarah A. Wescot-Williams, DP ; since 10 February 2024
Structure
Seats	15
Parliament political groups	Government (8) URSM (2); DP (2); PFP (2); N.O.W. (2); Opposition (7) NA (4); UPP (3);
Elections
Parliament voting system	Proportional representation
Last Parliament election	11 January 2024
Motto
	Latin: coram populo
Website
	www.sxmparliament.org

The Parliament of Sint Maarten (Dutch: Staten van Sint Maarten) is a unicameral legislature that consists of 15 members, each elected for a four-year term in a general election. The first parliament was installed on 10 October 2010, the date of the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, and consisted of the members of the predecessor island council elected on 17 September 2010.^[3] The current President of Parliament is Sarah A. Wescot-Williams.^[4]

Role and function

The parliament is the highest legislative body of the country and represents the entire population of the Dutch side of the island. The parliament consists of 15 members who are elected for a four-year period. The session year of parliament commences on the second Tuesday of September. During this session, the Governor provides an explanation of the policy to be pursued by the government. The parliament elects a President and Deputy President from its own numbers. The President of Parliament opens and closes the session year of the Parliament. Parliament is sometimes called a "co-legislator" with the Government, because both have control over policy.

Parliament's powers include:

The right to approve and amend the budget
The right of interpellation where each Member of Parliament (MP) has the right to question ministers of government in the General Assembly of Parliament
The right of initiative allows MPs to submit draft laws on their own initiative
The right to amendment, allows MPs to amend legislation that has been submitted to Parliament
The right to ask questions, every MP can question a Minister orally or in writing
The right to instigate inquiries allows parliament to institute an inquiry into the state of affairs in an event in which Government is involved

Current parliament

The Government of Sint Maarten is based on a political party having a majority of the 15 seats in parliament. A political party would need to have eight seats in order to govern outright. However, more than one party can form a Government if parties can reach an agreement to do so. An independent member of parliament can also be part of the ranks of the opposition or be part of the governing party or coalition.

Current members of parliament were seated on February 9, 2024, following the January 2024 Sint Maarten general election.

Most recent election results



Party		Votes	%	Seats	/–
	National Alliance	3,455	23.92	4	–2
	United People's Party	2,814	19.48	3	–1
	Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement	2,028	14.04	2	New
	Democratic Party	1,970	13.64	2	1^[a]
	Party for Progress [nl]	1,717	11.89	2	0
	Nation Opportunity Wealth	1,481	10.25	2	New
	United St. Maarten Party	686	4.75	0	–2
	Empire Culture Empowerment Association	292	2.02	0	New
Total		14,443	100.00	15	0

Valid votes		14,443	97.75
Invalid votes		332	2.25
Blank votes		0	0.00
Total votes		14,775	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		22,553	65.51
Source: Central Voting Bureau