Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG:--- Several fractures in the United Peoples Party/ De Weever/ Marlin- Romeo and US coalition seems to be beyond repair that Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs have decided that he will send a Landsbesluit to the Governor of St. Maarten to dissolve the Parliament of St. Maarten before another government could be formed. It is not clear if the Prime Minister will get his way in order to stop the formation of another government or the get rid of certain Members of Parliament since the country is not yet in a crisis.According to information provided to SMN News MP Maurice Lake has pulled his support from the current coalition for several reasons, one being the VORST property that the Prime Minister refused to sign off on the payment for the family who intends to take government to court. SMN News understands that MP Lake submitted his letter to the UPP and the Governor of St. Maarten on Friday.SMN News learnt that MP Maurice Lake who was the former Minister of VROMI cannot get none of the projects he initiated signed off by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs the current acting Minister of VROMI. MP Maurice Lake is currently off island and could not be reached for an official comment. However, several persons within the UPP said MP Lake pulled his support from the the current coalition on Friday because he said he had enough.SMN News further learnt that MP Franklin Meyers who obtained over 600 votes and MP Tamara Leonard are also at odds with their party leader who chose to give the Ministry of TEATT to Independent Member of Parliament Leona Marlin- Romeo who only obtained 245 votes on the US slate then jumped ship and joined hands with the UPP/De Weever Government. SMN News further understands that when Marlin- Romeo negotiated with the UPP she settled for the Vice Chair of Parliament but since the US Leader joined the coalition and obtained the Ministry of Justice she too decided to make demands for a Ministry. The UPP insiders said that the deputy leader of the UPP Franklin Meyers and MP Leonard are extremely upset that their party leader would give Marlin-Romeo the Ministry of TEATT when they were the ones instrumental in appointing Minister Claret Conner whom they said studied Tourism. They said the two UPP MPs are not at all satisfied because their party leader did not even consult with them prior to taking a decison to remove the Minister they appointed.Another upheaval in the coalition comes from the De Weever's camp the source said the UPP leader went ahead and negotiated a bond issue with the Central Bank for the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) without involving MP De Weever the former Minister of Health.As for MP Silvio Matser it is understood that he too is not at all pleased with the way the current government is running because in his view certain MPs including the UPP leader are only doing things that are benefitting them and not the country. SMN News learnt that Master does not want to part of a Government that is not taking care of its people but are busy enriching themselves. MP Matser is also off island and could not be reached.According to the information SMN News received is that MP Theodore Heyliger is getting blows within his own party and he felt the only thing to do right now is to dissolve the Parliament of St. Maarten to get rid of the Members of Parliament who does not agree with his way of running the country. However, the dissolving of Parliament could only take place if there is a crisis in the country and the 15 Members of Parliament that are currently in Parliament are not able to form government. Due to all the current developments SMN News learnt that the UPP and its members met at Chippie's Café Saturday morning to see if they could iron out their issues but MP Silvio Matser, MP Maurice Lake and MP Cornelius de Weever did not attend the meeting since all three of them are currently off island.SMN News is watching the political development rather closely and will bring you more information as becomes available.
