SXMElections.com

Dear Editor,

I have lived on St. Maarten since October 1963; that is, for the past 51 years. Needless to say I have been through lots and lots of elections. The very first time I voted was on St. Maarten. It was also here that I had my very first lesson about the way politics works.

When I first came to St. Maarten, there were still dirt roads in the heart of Philipsburg leading from Front to Back Street. One such dirt road, just a few steps from where I lived with my parents, suddenly and unexpectedly got paved. It was actually converted into a street. This was after I had been on the island for more than three years. "Wow, I said, the government here has finally done something concrete." Then I was told by a fellow civil servant, "Hodge, you are new here. This is an election year; it will be another four years before you see another road paved." He told me this with a big smile on his face. That was my first lesson about the way politics worked on the island.

I remember when candidates on the DP list did not dare ask people to vote for them; they were obligated – or so it seemed – to campaign for the leader of the party, who, though he was a nice man (I had always admired him), must have been a dictator of some sort.

I also remember at least one or two election years, when there were no elections on St. Maarten, simply because there was not a single opposition party. I had never heard of that happening on any of the other islands of the then Netherlands Antilles. Yes, St. Maarten was and still is unique in many ways.

There must have been corruption in those early days, but no one dared to talk about it, much less expose it. But then, shortly after an election, my suspicions were confirmed when I read in a Curaçao newspaper that a political party on St. Maarten had spent more than a million guilders on fridges, stoves, washing machines and airline tickets for students abroad.

All that was required of the voter was a brief note, signed by a certain politician. I often wondered if the Indian merchant(s) and travel agency ever received full payment for their merchandise/tickets. The article did not mention whether the large amount of money had come out of the politician's pocket or the people's pocket.

Over the decades I have seen lots of politicians come and go. Some, however, came and stayed, election after election. They have become permanent fixtures in the Administration Building.

This buying of votes is obviously done by every party in government, yes, even the party you and I have voted for. They have forever been buying votes; however, they now not only buy votes, but political opponents as well.

This practice will probably go on forever. They know that they need not be afraid of persecution; they have learned from their fellow politicians – those who got caught – that the Prosecutor's Office will take from four years to forever to take action when it comes to wrongdoing by a politician.

"Dismiss the case, boys; put it on the back burner and let it remain there until the people have forgotten." (Okay, my imagination is getting the best of me.)

I have to admit that I lost confidence in politicians decades ago and I have on two or three occasions in the past declined to cast a vote in spite of the many politicians who try to convince you of how "important" your vote is.

A week before this last election, I asked an acquaintance: Have you received your voting card yet? "No, I haven't, but I don't care, because I'm not going to vote anyway." Why not? (After they get in there) "They are going to do whatever they want anyhow." Her down-to-earth answer caught me off-guard. I have never heard a more logical reason for not voting.

Another advice I recently received was: Clive, if you don't like those who are in there, vote for the one you dislike/mistrust the least. That also sounded like good advice, but not good enough to persuade someone, who has lost all confidence in politicians, to vote.

I did vote this time around, because I actually had a slight HOPE that at last a real change was coming. However, I am again disappointed with the outcome. Why? A three-party coalition government with just one seat more than the opposition could not be more vulnerable and unstable. The temptation to jump the ship even before there is a ship can prove to be altogether overpowering.

Any politician or political party that can spend three million dollars of its own money on a campaign can very easily buy out a political opponent, and for a great deal less. The first attempt has already been made. It's just a matter of time!

Clive Hodge