Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten — Leader of the United People (UP) party Theo Heyliger on Wednesday asked the general public to ask themselves a very important question: What kind of political party chooses to contest an election and says it doesn't want to win which means it has no interest in governing and doing good by the people? The answer, Heyliger said, is the Democratic Party of St. Maarten.
Heyliger said for weeks the DP has attempted to paint the UP's call for an outright win and no coalition government as something bad for the country and for the people of St. Maarten.
On the contrary, he said, the UP is confident in its abilities to lead this country into a brighter future with focus on issues (like healthcare) that matters to the people.
On the flip side, he continued, "you have the DP who has told the people that they are not contesting the elections to win and to govern.
They are contesting the elections to be opportunists and HOPE for an opportunity to piggy-back with one of the larger parties," he said, adding that the DP coming out against an outright win is the biggest contradiction in terms when looking at the political landscape over the years.
"The DP leader coined the phrase "win outright!" in her various campaign rallies when the DP was at the top of its game. All of a sudden, there is the need to put a political spin on it because the DP is not as relevant as it once was. All of a sudden "winning outright" is a terrible thing. Who are we kidding?" Heyliger asked.
Heyliger added that the DP took the people for granted when it brazenly called a press conference to lay down its "requirements" for a coalition partner.
"How presumptuous and insulting was this. The people have to realise that the DP sent them a clear message with that move: The DP is happy being a small party, is looking forward to piggy-backing, is comfortable with where it is as a party and has no courage to try to win.
Most importantly, they said that nobody should bother vote for the DP because they are good as is. That last indirect statement we fully agree with."
Heyliger stressed that his party maintains that an unstable coalition government is not what the country needs.
"It is less accountable - who do you hold responsible for mistakes at the next election if there is more than one party in the government? Politicians can easily just say 'it wasn't us, it was them', reducing their accountability to both Parliament and the electorate.
The DP apparently doesn't have the stomach to govern, so we say give us the mandate, we are not afraid and after four years, you can hold us accountable and kick us out our let we continue to build this country," Heyliger said.
