Marigot:--- The voters of St. Martin gave the Rassemblement, Responsabilite, Reussite (RRR) a clear and resounding mandate on Sunday March 25th when 56.85% of the votes that were cast were in favor of the RRR. Leader of the RRR Alain Richardson and his wife Nadia who was clearly emotional and in tears surrounded by their team members walked to the Collectivity where they witnessed the speech given by the opposition leader Daniel Gibbs.The results show that 5451 persons voted for the RRR party, with that amount of votes the RRR party got 17 seats in the Territorial Council while the opposition Team Daniel Gibbs got six seats from the 4137 votes cast in their favor. Team Daniel Gibbs got 43.15% of the votes cast. There are a total of 17,909 registered voters of which 9,871 voted during the second round on Sunday with 283 blanks or null votes.
The new team will be sworn in on Sunday April 1, 2012 where the President of the Council will be elected. Even though Alain Richardson headed the RRR list and he will most likely be the next president of the Collectivity of Saint Martin that only takes place when the council is inaugurated.
Supporters of the RRR converged outside of the Collectivity as early as 7pm Sunday night to witness the change the wanted. Most of the RRR supporters dressed in their traditional red shirts waved their red flags and screamed to the top of their voices when the results were announced. RRR won in 11 of the 13 polling stations. Leader of the RRR Alain Richardson thanked God, the churches, and the people of St. Martin for the confidence they placed in him and his team this time around. He said while the people placed their confidence in the RRR, it is St. Martin that won since the work has now begun for the island. Richardson and his team openly reminded the people that while they won the election locally they still have to go back to the polls in June 2012 to elect a deputy and for sure the RRR will need them again. The RRR leader also thanked the MAP, and St. Martin Pour Tous for endorsing the RRR for the second round while he also expressed gratitude to the Union pour les Progres for putting St. Martin first when they stepped out of the race. Richardson also thanked the French voters who live on the Dutch side of the island but made sure they voted in favor of the RRR. He said when the other political parties were about dividing the island the RRR focused on unity.
Richardson told the people of St. Martin that while Obama said "they can" St. Martin did it at the polls on Sunday. He constantly reminded the people that even though they worked hard to win this election, the work for St. Martin has now begun.
Leader of TDG, Daniel Gibbs also thanked his voters while he congratulated the winner of Sunday's election. He said that the election results show that there is democracy and that must be respected. Gibbs said he is thankful for the amount of votes his team received because his party is young and they did not get any support from the other parties that participated in last week's election. Gibbs also vowed to continue the hard work, he said his intention is to represent the people who placed their confidence in them from the opposition benches.
It is clear that the people of St. Martin wanted a change which they expressed at the various polling stations. The RRR victory also brought an end to the Fleming's era.
Click here to view photos of the election on Sunday March 25, 2012.
Click here to view the Official Results released by the Prefecture of St. Martin.
| RRR | Team Daniel Gibbs |
BLANK VOTES |
Total Votes Per Bureau |
|
| Hotel de La Collectivité (Bur 1) | 236 | 273 | 11 | 520 |
| Number 2 Nina Duverly School (Bur 2) | 538 | 224 | 25 | 787 |
| Nina Duverly School (Bur 3) | 627 | 342 | 32 | 1001 |
| Hervé Williams School (Bur 4) | 400 | 336 | 30 | 766 |
| Hervé Williams School (Bur 5) | 444 | 244 | 25 | 713 |
| Sandy Ground School (Bur 6) | 303 | 296 | 10 | 609 |
| Sandy Ground School (Bur 7) | 323 | 269 | 9 | 601 |
| Bâtiment Communal, Friars Bay (Bur 8) | 326 | 230 | 28 | 584 |
| Bâtiment Communal, Friars Bay (Bur 9) | 381 | 221 | 15 | 617 |
| Primary School, Grand Case (Bur 10) | 375 | 632 | 33 | 1040 |
| Kindergarten school, Grand Case (Bur 11) | 385 | 256 | 16 | 657 |
| Kindergarten school French Quarter (Bur 12) | 537 | 471 | 19 | 1027 |
| Primary School French Quarter (Bur 13) | 576 | 340 | 25 | 941 |
| Total Votes Per Party | 5451 | 4134 |
278 | 9863 |
| Percentage | 56.85% | 43.15% | 3% |
WHY U DON'T GO HALL YOUR a**