January 2024 Sint Maarten general election
General elections were held in Sint Maarten on 11 January 2024.
Electoral system
The 15 seats in the Estates were elected by proportional representation. In order to participate in the election, new parties and parties without a seat in parliament were required to obtain at least 134 signatures; 1% of the valid votes of the 2020 general elections.Results
Preliminary results were released at the end of the night of the election, with official results announced by the Central Voting Bureau on 18 January.Aftermath
A four-party government was formed between the Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement, the Democratic Party, the Party for Progress and Nation Opportunity Wealth, all of which won two seats. Luc Mercelina's URSM, having received the most votes of the 4 parties, lead the new government with Mercelina as Prime Minister. Elected members took office on 10 February 2024, followed by a coalition deal on 21 February. The new government with Mercelina as Prime minister eventually took the oath of office on 3 May. However, the government collapsed 18 days later as Kevin Maingrette, an MP from the Nation Opportunity Wealth party, left the coalition to join the opposition. This crossing the floor cost the coalition its majority, leading Mercelina to dissolve parliament and call snap elections.On 1 August 2024 United People's Party MP Akeem Arrindell was arrested for conspiring to buy votes in the January elections. He subsequently lost his seat in that month's snap elections and was sentenced on 8 January 2025 to a prison sentence and a six and a half year ban on serving in public office.