Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the National Alliance William Marlin who was appointed formateur by Governor Eugene Holiday to form the next government for 2014 - 2018 finally cleared the air on Sunday at a press conference. Marlin was appointed by the Governor shortly after the August 29th, 2014 Parliamentary Elections when the National Alliance, Democratic Party and the United St. Maarten Party signed an agreement to form the next government, that agreement fell apart last Wednesday when it became clear that Member of Parliament (elect) Cornelius de Weever had changed his mind and teamed up with the United Peoples Party.Marlin said that while he was hearing rumors that one of the members who agreed to form the eight seat government was going to defect, he continued to execute the task he was given by the governor after presenting the signed agreement by the three political parties. Marlin said up to last week Monday he was in touch with Minister Cornelius de Weever now Member of Parliament (elect). Marlin said he called the Minister when he noticed that some documents from his file were missing and he needed the Minister who agreed from the inception to continue as Minister of Health, Labor and Social Affairs to bring in those documents so he could have submitted them for the screening process. He said the Minister collected his file from him that same Monday and promised to return with it that afternoon and but he never did and neither did he hear from him since then.Marlin said he tried to contact the Minister but was not successful. He said he sent him an email and he never got a response.Marlin also confirmed that Minister de Weever was one of the persons appointed by the Democratic Party to assist the others in drafting the Governing Program, the "Open and Transparent Governing Program." He also confirmed that even though the Minister left his post on the team claiming he had lots of work to do, he did attend the sessions and was heard and also did participate with submitting information for the drafting of the governing program. He said high on their list was proper integrity in government.Marlin further explained that the team along with personnel of Bearing Point both on St. Maarten and Curacao worked tirelessly to put together a governing program which was finalized on the morning of September 24th 2014, the day he had to submit all his documentation to the governor.The governing program he said covered all seven Ministries with five key points namely to lower the cost of electricity, to install solar panels on all schools and the homes of the senior citizens living in Belvedere.The NA/DP/USp government had also intended to install LED lights in all the homes of senior citizens in order for them to pay almost nothing for electricity. They also had intentions to regulate the school transportation system and to ensure that the St. Peters sewage lines are connected to the main sewage plant. The broad based government also had intentions to work on protecting children especially from child abuse and neglect, create a policy for government own companies when it comes to concessions, make the Tourism Authority operational. They had intentions to finalize the purchase of Emilio Wilson Estate, protecting the environment and nation building.Marlin and the two other political leaders have decided to make the Governing Program public even though they know that there are chances that other politicians would plagiarize the hard work done by the team over the period of two weeks.Marlin further explained that while he was appointed formateur the governor appointed two informateurs whose task is to consult with all political parties to try and form a government even though the governor got from the UPP leader a document with eight signatures. He said so far the two formateurs namely Joe Richardson and Marcel Gumbs have not contacted him. He said what is happening in the political arena is democratic and there is nothing anyone could do about it. Marlin further made clear that he and others were cognizant of the fact if one of the MPs changed their minds they would have been in the situation they are in today. He also said that the formation of government is not yet finalized and the people might well see more shifting taking place.When asked about the country's instability since obtaining its country status, Marlin described it growing pains because persons that are elected are using their seat In Parliament by peddling it off to the highest bidder. He explained that most of the time the elected Members of Parliament are looking to set themselves up strategically. He said instead of being loyal to the party that they ran on and got elected, after elections it's not about the political parties but about the elected individuals.
Click here to view the Governing Program completed by team members from NA, DP, USP and Bearing Point.
