Former Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs’ party narrowly won the election in Sint Maarten. Preliminary results show her National Alliance party won 2,264 votes. The second number, URSM, of current Prime Minister Luc Mercelina, won 2,230 votes.

The Parliament of Sint Maarten, a country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has 15 seats. After yesterday’s elections, seven parties will enter the Parliament. Three parties won three seats. The turnout was 60 percent lower than the previous time.

Everything indicates that former teacher Jacobs may form a new government. Jacobs has already been prime minister of two governments between 2019 and 2024.

The elections had a tragic start. In July, aspiring politician Olivier Arendel was shot. His wife died as a result. The politician and his daughter were injured.

The investigation into the attack is still ongoing, but according to Mercelina there are no indications that it was politically motivated. However, there were a number of security measures in place, with officers from Sint Maarten, Curaçao, Aruba and the BES Islands patrolling the streets of the capital Philipsburg yesterday.

Weapons possession checks and traffic control were also carried out. Election Day passed peacefully, with no major incidents reported.

Arendelle’s party, OMC, did not get enough votes to gain a seat.

This was the second time in a year that Sint Maarten residents were allowed to go to the polls for parliamentary elections. At the beginning of May, the island had a new government, which had been formed with great difficulty, but seventeen days later the government had already fallen.