DP loses two of four seats

�PLP, STEP, UPC win one seat each�

ST. EUSTATIUS--The Democratic Party (DP) has lost its majority in the first Island Council election under the island's new constitutional status.

The party lost two of its four seats Wednesday while Progressive Labour Party (PLP), St. Eustatius Empowerment Party (STEP) and United People's Coalition (UPC) each won one seat in the new Island Council.

"I am slightly disappointed with the result," DP leader Reuben Merkman said. "But the people have decided. In the coming days we'll start working on the formation of a new government."

The outcome of the election, which went smoothly, makes the formation of a coalition necessary to create an Executive Council that can count on a majority in the new Island Council.

It is possible that the three opposition parties will start on working out a coalition, but it is also possible that the DP will seek the cooperation of either STEP, UPC or PLP.

Parties have until March 10 to form a new Executive Council, because the new Island Council will be sworn in on that date, Governor Gerald Berkel explained after he announced the preliminary vote count at the Government Guest House.

The counting of the votes at the Main Voting Bureau was monitored closely by the party leaders, with the exception of highest individual vote-getter Reginald Zaandam (263 votes), who was too nervous to attend, according to UPC party secretary Ebbie Schmidt.

Zaandam was present later, celebrating his new party's entry into the political arena together with the other newcomer in the Council, Franklin Brown's STEP, which had failed to obtain a seat in the 2007 election.

PLP leader Clyde van Putten (153 votes) was the second biggest vote-getter. He was followed by Brown with 143 votes, DP Commissioner Roy Hooker (122), and DP Island Councilwoman Adelka Spanner (111).

It is not yet known who will be taking up their seats in the Island Council as this depends on the political deliberations in the coming days.

Despite several new rules and regulations that came into force with the adopted Dutch voting system which provides for voting by proxy, no irregularities were reported, said Head of the Civil Registry Ricardo Tjie-A-Loi.

Voters cast their votes in a steady flow throughout the day. When the single polling station closed at 9:00pm, two hours later than usual, 1,455 of 2,135 eligible voters had come out to vote. Twenty-one votes were classified as invalid.

Many voters tried to catch a glimpse of the vote count, their noses pressed against the library windows, while others gathered around the booth of their party of choice that had been pitched in the vicinity of the polling station.

Without a clear winner, there were no large celebrations to end the long election night, with only a few cars taking to the streets with cheering supporters on board. John van Kerkhoz

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/14354-dp-loses-two-of-four-seats.html

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