The majority switches sides

Bernadette Venthou-Dumaine, at the last Territorial Council meeting, followed by Martine Beldor, Valérie Fonrose and Raphaël Sanchez-Orosco, decided to leave the RSMA. They explained that they now disagreed with certain decisions taken during the term of office, citing in particular a lack of consultation and transparency and ‘eroded trust’.
The Senate election campaign had already made these divisions particularly apparent. The territorial majority had officially chosen to support Valérie Damaseau, whilst several elected representatives from the majority were standing as independents or had distanced themselves from the presidential bloc. Sunday’s vote confirmed the existence of these rifts.

Twelve elected representatives against eleven

On Monday morning, the day after the election, Annick Pétrus in turn submitted her letter of resignation from the RSMA, acknowledging the electors’ decision not to renew their confidence in her. In a statement, the outgoing senator indicated that, over the coming weeks, she would ensure that the files and work she had undertaken in the Senate were handed over to her successor. This latest split further weakens the bloc that had propelled Louis Mussington to the presidency of the Collectivité in 2022. With just a few months remaining in his term of office, the president will now have to navigate a political landscape very different from that at the start of his term.
In addition to the four elected representatives from Team Gibbs – Daniel Gibbs, Alain Gros-Desormeaux, Philippe Philidor and Marie-Dominique Ramphort – there are now Jules Charville, Angeline Laurence, Mélissa Nicolas-Rembotte, Raphaël Sanchez-Orosco, Martine Beldor, Bernadette Venthou-Dumaine, Valérie Fonrose and, most recently, Annick Pétrus. These twelve territorial councillors now stand outside the bloc supporting the President of the Collectivité, whilst eleven elected representatives remain politically aligned with him. Of the 23 members of the Territorial Council, the balance of power has therefore shifted.
Until now, the majority had the votes required to pass its resolutions without needing the opposition’s support. It will now have to negotiate and seek agreements on a case-by-case basis for measures requiring a majority of the votes cast.
The remainder of Louis Mussington’s term of office is therefore set to be a challenging one. As he takes stock of his term in office, the president will have to make concessions; and with less than six months to go before the next territorial elections, the senatorial elections will thus have gone beyond the simple issue of Saint Martin’s representation at the Palais du Luxembourg: they will also have highlighted the political realignment already underway in the territory.