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Annual Report 2014

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Annual Report 2014 Promoting Integrity & Transparency Sint Maarten Annual Report 2014 PROMOTING INTEGRITY & TRANSPARENCY Objectives NATIONAL ORDINANCE REGISTRATION AND FINANCES OF POLITICAL PARTIES: 1) To promote a transparent and democratic structure of political parties; 2) To promote the integrity of political parties; 3) To prevent (the appearance of) conflicts of interest; 4) To promote a balanced political process. Annual Report 2014 1 Table of contents Page Preface No.3 Introduction 4 1. Electoral Council 5 2. Operational Management 6 2.1. Daily operations 7 2.2. Finances Electoral Council 9 2.3. Meetings of the Electoral Council 10 3. Information campaign 12 3.1. Information sessions 13 3.2. Media 15 3.3. Website 15 4. National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties 16 4.1. Registration of political parties 17 4.2. Finances of political parties and candidates 21 4.2.1. Registration of donations political candidates 21 4.2.2. Online database 21 4.2.3. Deadline registration donations political candidates 22 4.2.4. Review registration of donations political candidates 24 4.2.5. Statistics donations received by political candidates 25 4.3. Declarations article 53 of the National Ordinance on Registration 29 and Finances Political Parties 4.3.1. Declaration Members of Parliament Elect 29 4.3.2. Declaration Ministers Appointed 30 4.4. Outlook 2015 31 4.4.1. Registration of donations political parties 31 4.4.2. Annual report political parties 31 4.5. Observations and recommendations 32 4.6. In conclusion 34 5. Appendices 35 6. Sources 46 2 Preface The Electoral Council is an independent body within the constitutional system of Sint Maarten. According to the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties, the Electoral Council has been assigned with the tasks for the legal registration of political parties and the auditing of the funds of those parties. Together the regulations in question constitute the most stringent legislation within the Dutch Kingdom. The first pillar of this legislation seeks to promote a transparent and democratic structure of political parties. The second pillar is aimed at promoting the integrity of political parties, preventing conflicts of interests and promoting a well- balanced and transparent political process. Consequently, as such, Article 55, paragraph 2 of the Constitution has been executed. Although the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties was already in effect on October 10, 2010, it was not until January 2014, that the members and substitute members of the Electoral Council were appointed and sworn in. Subsequently, the Electoral Council had to hit the ground running to take all the necessary steps to ensure that the regular parliamentary elections of August 2014 could take place in accordance with the new legal regulations. It gives me great pleasure to be able to conclude that the Electoral Council, with the necessary cooperation of the political parties and their candidates in the elections, has succeeded in doing so. However, that does not change the fact that more still needs to be done, such as the establishment of a national decree constituting general measures to formalize the remunerations to be allotted to the members of the Electoral Council. Hereby, I present to you the very first annual report of the Electoral Council. Naturally, its primary focus is the design of procedures aimed at the realization of its legal tasks. In addition, the emphasis is placed on the process of the registration of political parties and of the registrations of candidates of the donations received by them. The registrations of the donations received by the political parties and the annual reports of the parties and their financial accounts were submitted to the Electoral Council in 2015, as stipulated by law. The relevant procedures and reviews conducted will be discussed in the subsequent annual report of the Electoral Council. I hope that this annual report will give an impression of the tasks and important role of the Electoral Council within the political process of Sint Maarten. Sint Maarten, October 2015 Bert Hofman Chairman Electoral Council 3 Introduction On the 10th of October, 2010, the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved and Sint Maarten became a self-governing body within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Consequently, Sint Maarten got its own Constitution and in order to comply with Article 55 of the Constitution a number of institutions had to be established of which the Electoral Council was one. The Electoral Council would be the first of its kind in the history of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Electoral Council was established to promote a transparent and democratic structure of political parties and to ensure integrity of the political parties, prevention of conflict of interests and the balance of the political process. Its objective is also to promote good governance and a proper financial administration by both political parties and the candidates as stipulated in the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties. The Electoral Council should have been in place at the start of the new status of Sint Maarten on October 10, 2010. However, this did not take place and the members of the Electoral Council were not appointed until 2014. 4 1. Electoral Council The members of the Electoral Council were officially appointed by National Decree on January 7, 2014, which was published in the National Gazette of Sint Maarten on January 10, 2014. His Excellency Governor Eugene B. Holiday administered the oath to the members and substitute members of the Electoral Council, on Thursday, January 23, 2014, during an official ceremony at the Cabinet of the Governor. During the ceremony Governor Holiday underscored that: “The acceptance of the appointment as members of the electoral council is a serious one; one in which you have decided to play a critical role in fostering and upholding the orderly and proper functioning of our democratic system. ….. Considering the issues involved I wish to emphasize that the importance of ensuring the proper registration and transparent financing of political parties, for the proper governance and thus overall development of our society, cannot be overstated.” He further stressed the need for the Electoral Council to hit the ground running and set up all the mechanisms necessary for the upcoming parliamentary elections. His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten with the members of the Electoral Council. 5 2. Operational management The Electoral Council is an independent body of the Government of Sint Maarten. The members of the Electoral Council are nominated by an appointment committee. The nomination is done by the appointment committee consisting of the President of the Common Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, the vice-chairperson of the Council of Advice of Sint Maarten and the chairman of the General Audit Chamber of Sint Maarten. The members of the Electoral Council are appointed for a term of seven years by National Decree. The Electoral Council comprises of a chairman, a deputy chairperson, a member and two substitute members. The following persons were nominated by the appointment committee to be members of the Electoral Council: mr. Bert G. Hofman (chairman), mr. Genara C. Richardson-Nicolaas (deputy chairperson) and drs. Linda A. Richardson. The appointed substitute members are mr. Marlène Mingo and mr. Jeroen Veen. The Electoral Council members. From left to right: mr. G.C. Richardson-Nicolaas, mr. B.G. Hofman and drs. L.A. Richardson. 6 2.1. Daily operations In view of the fact that this was the first Electoral Council established within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Electoral Council had to be set up by its members without any directives or guidelines. On April 1, 2014, the Electoral Council officially opened its doors to the general public on Backstreet 145B. Before the doors of the office officially opened the Electoral Council conducted its operations at the law firm office of the Chairman of the Electoral Council since there was no office space available for the Electoral Council. The office of the Electoral Council is staffed by a part-time administrative assistant. The office of the Electoral Council on Backstreet 145b, Philipsburg. The then Minister of General Affairs of Sint Maarten, Mrs. Sarah Wescot-Williams, assisted in finding office space for the Electoral Council. The office which 7 accommodates housing for the Electoral Council was the furnished office of the former Security Department of the Netherlands Antilles, which seemed to have been hurriedly deserted in October 2010. The Electoral Council worked together with the Department of Facilities to further equip the office. The Prime Minister officially visited the office of the Electoral Council on April 9, 2014. However, to date, despite numerous requests, several pieces of the existing office furniture were not replaced, such as the filing cabinets that are rusting and cannot be closed properly. Neither was the urgently needed conference table ever delivered. The Prime Minister had previously stated that: "The Electoral Council is one of the important bodies that has been created by law as part of the entire electoral process. The Electoral Council, which is chaired by attorney Bert Hofman, is the body to which political parties submit their request for registration. Over the last couple of weeks on our sister island of Curaçao there have also been issues with regards to political parties registering etc. On St. Maarten political parties need to be an association and this is not yet the case on Curaçao. A political party on Curaçao is suggesting now that political parties need to be an association so in that respect St. Maarten is a step ahead." Press release from the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten April 14, 2014.
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