Luc Mercelina

Luc Mercelina was born in Curaçao as the second child of Milo Mercelina, of Bonairean descent, and Juliette S.F. Fleming of Marigot, Saint Martin. He graduated as a doctor in 1990 from the Medical University of Maastricht. His professional career started in Curaçao, where he was a general practitioner in Santa Rosa from 1990 to 1992.^[4] He further specialized in surgery at the UZ Leuven in Belgium, which he completed in 1998. After working as a surgeon in the Netherlands for a year, he moved to Sint Maarten in 1999, where he worked for 10 years at the Sint Maarten Medical Center (SMMC).^[5]

In the 2018 elections, the United Democrats became the largest party in the Estates of Sint Maarten with 7 seats, with Mercelina holding one of them.^[6][7] On 9 September 2019, Mercelina left the UD, leading to the collapse of the second Marlin-Romeo cabinet.^[8] He then became a member of the United People's Party for two years, before leaving and founding the Unified Resilient Sint Maarten Movement on 10 October 2021.^[9][10] The URSM contested the January 2024 general election winning 2 seats,^[11] and later entered a coalition agreement with the Democratic Party, Party for Progress, and Nation Opportunity Wealth that designated Mercelina as the new Prime Minister.^[12]