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St. Maarten / St. Martin Political System |
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Two European-based governments preside over the island. St. Maarten/St. Martin's two basic systems - Dutch and French - are both parliamentary forms of government. Each respective system joins other Caribbean islands of its parent country in a joint body.
The Netherlands consists of three constitutional entities, which are The Netherlands and the two territories of Aruba and The Netherlands Antilles. The NA is composed of five island territories (Curacao, Bonaire, St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius or "Statia"). The NA is a parliamentary democracy with a parliament based in Willemstad, Curacao that represents all of the five island territories. The parliament has 22 senators, who serve four-year terms, from the territories represented as follows: Curacao, 14; Bonaire and St. Maarten, three each; Saba and St. Eustatius, one each. The governor general of the NA, currently J.M. Saleh, is appointed to a six-year term by the queen of The Netherlands. The office of the governor general is based in Curacao. Each island territory has a lieutenant governor that is appointed by the Dutch queen. The lieutenant governor, who is also appointed for a six-year term, chairs his own island council and executive council. The capital of Dutch St. Maarten is Philipsburg. A synopsis of the Dutch system of government can be found here.
France oversees the French West Indies, which is composed of the overseas territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe. St. Barthelemy (St. Barth's) and St. Martin are part of the two communes of Guadeloupe.
Similar to its southern neighbor, the French system is also a parliamentary democracy. The French prime minister and president appoint a prefet and he resides in Guadeloupe. These islands have a sous-prefet (similar to the NA lieutenant governor) that is also selected by the prime minister and president. There are two legislative bodies called the General Council and the Regional Council. These chambers are located in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe with representatives from each island.
There are 46 total counselors in the GC and 43 in the RC. The representation from the islands is as follows: Guadeloupe, 43 in the GC and 41 in the RC; St. Barthelemy, one in the GC and one in the RC; St. Martin, two in the GC and one in the RC. The capital of French St. Martin is Marigot.
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