The Collectivity of Saint Martin was a French commune for many years and formed part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas région and département of France and is therefore in the European Union.
In 2003, the population of the French part of the island voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form a separate overseas collectivity (COM) of France.
On 25 July 2008 Fleming resigned after being sanctioned by the Conseil d'État for one year over problems with his 2007 election campaign.
[5] On 7 August, Frantz Gumbs was elected as President of the Territorial Council.
[8] There currently exists a movement in Saint Martin for achieving a political unification of the island.