Central Committee Meeting of Parliament scheduled for Wednesday surrounding August 29th alleged parliamentary election discrepancies

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PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The House of Parliament will meet in a Central Committee session on April 8.

The committee meeting is set for Wednesday at 10.00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

This meeting was requested by Members of Parliament (MP) Hon. Leona Marlin-Romeo (Independent), MP Hon. Tamara Leonard (United People’s (UP) party) and MP Hon. Cornelius de Weever (Independent) back in 2014 in correspondence dated November 6 and 7.

The agenda point is a discussion with the Main Voting Bureau and the Civil Registry Department concerning alleged discrepancies that occurred during and in preparation of the August 29th parliamentary elections.  The Minister of General Affairs Hon. Marcel Gumbs will also be present for this sitting of the House.

The discrepancies noted are: at the Prison polling station; usage of foreign identification for voting purposes; discrepancies at specific polling stations in ballot counting; discrepancies of the lack of privacy during the supporting of the candidate list; discrepancies in the information given to political parties as it related to placement of campaign material.

Other points to be brought forward in the Central Committee meeting are: changes in the Electoral Law as it relates to having a structured chronological order; Increase of polling stations in 2014 in comparison to 2010; Implementation of electronic voting; If there any articles that are conflicting with each other?; and if there any articles wrongfully written?

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com, and also via www.sxmparliament.org.