DP ordered to remove
‘illegal’ election posters
SUCKER GARDEN--Authorities ordered St. Maarten Democratic Party (DP) to take down posters that were put up during a meeting at a bar and restaurant in Sucker Garden Sunday evening.
It is illegal to display posters of political parties and their candidates in public areas before Nomination Day, which is March 1. Authorities were informed about the posters and police were immediately dispatched to Beauty Chrystal Chinese Bar and Restaurant on Sucker Garden Road, the venue of the meeting.
Several DP members, including leader Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams and Councilwoman Maria Buncamper-Molanus, were seen on the porch of the bar/restaurant with a microphone, addressing the gathering. Directly across the road an election poster featuring Wescot-Williams was attached to a utility pole. Several other posters and flags were observed.
When contacted by The Daily Herald, Michael Ferrier, Chairman of DP St. Maarten Action Foundation that coordinates general party events, explained that the evening’s session wasn’t a public meeting, but a “contact meeting” in the more private setting of a bar.
“As DP party we always try to stay in contact with our supporters and those people that want to hear what we have to say,” he said, explaining that DP holds contact meetings throughout the year.
“We occasionally get together. We invite people to come. We give information and we get questions from people. These meetings serve to give and get information,” he said, adding that the next meeting will be in Middle Region on Wednesday at a venue still being arranged.
A permit is needed to hold a public meeting. Public political meetings, which are usually held in open areas, making use of a stage and loudspeakers, are traditionally held in the two weeks before the elections.
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