SXMElections.com

Winners And Losers: Who Will Survive The Polls In February?

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – February 9, 2016 is crunch day for politicians and those who aspire to become one. The parliamentary elections – for some mysterious reason perceived by some as ‘snap elections’, whatever that may be – will give voters the opportunity to speak their mind about the constitutional drama that concluded on Wednesday when the ministers of the Marcel Gumbs cabinet tendered their resignation and Governor Drs Read more

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Dp Criticizes Mp De Weever: “Counterpart Policy Is A Sure Recipe For Massive Lay-Offs”

St. Maarten – “As much as he tries, MP and former Minister OF Public health, Social Development and Labor Cornelius de Weever will never be able to convince anyone that the reason for his defection from the Red-White-Blue coalition in 2014 had something to do with opposition he encountered back then to “his” counterpart law,” Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams states in a press release Read more

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President Of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams: “Mps Waste Hundreds Of Guilders”

St. Maarten – “Every half hour wasted by Members of Parliament costs taxpayers nine hundred guilders. (15 x 60 is 900 guilders). This amount is close to what some persons in our community earn monthly after deductions. It equals the school fee for others. For yet others, it equals the monthly cost for day-care,” Democratic Party MP and President of parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams stated after a meeting of parliament did not take place on Monday morning due to a lack of quorum Read more

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Chair Aborts Meeting Within Sixty Seconds: New Majority Calls Action Mp De Weever Illegal

St. Maarten – Acting as the second vice president of Parliament, independent MP Cornelius de Weever wrong-footed parliament yesterday morning by opening and closing a meeting designed to appoint a new chair within sixty seconds after which he “ran out of the hall,” according to Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams.

De Weever called on article 37 of the rules of order, after remarking that the cabinet had submitted a national decree to dissolve parliament Read more

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Opinion: Something’S Brewing

We know since last night that Governor Holiday sent a letter to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs. We do not know the content of this letter, but there is no doubt that this will come out some time today.

The past couple of days, two political parties have come out with press conferences where they made their positions clear. The National Alliance nor the Democratic Party fear elections, they say.

Do they really want elections? Not really Read more

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In Case Governor Signs Decree To Dissolve Parliament: Dp Proposes Interim Cabinet And Elections After One Year

From left: DP treasurer Giselle York, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams and policy advisor Emil Lee. Photo today / Hilbert Haar

St. Maarten – In case Governor Holiday decides to sign the decree to dissolve parliament and elections follow on December 8, the Democratic Party proposes to annul the current motion, to let the new majority choose “a capable Council of Ministers” and to set the date for the elections one year from the appointment of this council Read more

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Mp Matser Appeals Fraud Conviction This Afternoon

Parliamentarian Silvio Matser arrives at the courthouse on January 7 for his sentence hearing. File photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten – MP Silvio Matser appears in the Common Court of Justice this afternoon at 1.30 p.m Read more

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Green Light For New Government, But Pm Gumbs Disagrees: “Even The Governor Can Make A Mistake”

St. Maarten – Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday has given the green light to the National Alliance-led coalition to form a new government. There will therefore be no elections on December 8, as would have been the case if the governor had ratified the national decree the cabinet sent to his office to dissolve the parliament and to call new elections.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs “absolutely disagrees” with the decision and his cabinet does not intend to make its positions available Read more

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Opinion: “Self Above Country” 101

Who said politics is boring? The conspirators in parliament had their first laugh on Wednesday when they lured all MPs to the House of Representatives with an irresistible agenda point – the remarks made by Attorney-General Guus Schram about the ties between the criminal underworld and St. Maarten’s legitimate society. Then followed an agenda point about the situation at the government-owned companies, in particular the airport.

But those who thought that the opposition intended to wash the ears of airport director Regina Labega were in for a nasty surprise Read more

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St. Maarten Government Falls Again: Fifth Cabinet In Five Years In The Making

UP-leader Theo Heyliger (left) and MP Silvio Matser on 10-10-14 when they were still political allies. Now the political marriage is over: “I cannot take the internal abuse anymore,” Matser said yesterday Read more

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Lake Stays In Parliament, No Seat For Buncamper-Molanus

St. Maarten – Rumors about the makeup of the new cabinet and its possible consequences for seats in parliament spread rapidly yesterday after the fall of the Gumbs cabinet. One such rumor was that Maurice Lake, now independent, would return as the Minister of Vromi; that move would have opened a slot in parliament for Maria Buncamper-Molanus Read more

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Parliament Demands That Ag Guus Schram Resigns

Attorney-General Guus Schram on an occasion when he was in St. Maarten. File photo Today / Hilbert Haar

St. Maarten – The parliament unanimously supported a motion that asks Attorney-General Guus Schram to resign and that urges the government to demand that the attorney-general of St. Maarten lives and works here. This newspaper asked the AG whether it is still possible for him to do his work on the island. “It is not up to the prosecutor’s office to react to this motion,” was the reaction.

The opposition National Alliance and Democratic Party had requested the meeting of parliament to discuss remarks Schram made on September 11 during the installation of Judge Sander van Rijen Read more

Parliament Goes All Out Against Attorney-General Schram “His Remarks Are As Bad As The Crimes He Fights”

MP William Marlin: “The AG insults everybody in St. Maarten.” Photo Today / Leo Brown

St. Maarten – Parliament unanimously make minced meat of the remarks Attorney-General Guus Schram made on September 11 during the installation of Judge Sander van Rijen and demanded his resignation (see related story on our front page).

“I do not want to get into a debate with the attorney-general,” National Alliance faction leader William Marlin said Read more

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