Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
Aruba And Curaao Thankful, But Not Entirely Happy
Wever-Croes and Rhuggenaath with then St. Maarten Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin
WILLEMSTAD/ORANJESTADMany in Curaao and Aruba are not entirely happy with the loans the Netherlands wants to give the Dutch Caribbean countries in acute budgetary assistance due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin (left) met three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Esther de Lange (right), Agnes Jongerius and Lambert van Nistelrooij, while in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting was a follow-up on a commitment made between the European Parliament and European Commission to as much as possible treat St. Martin and St Read more
Urgent Parliament Meeting Requested On Pearl Of China
PHILIPSBURG--An urgent public meeting of Parliament has been requested by three Members of Parliament about the Pearl of China project slated for the Belair beachfront.
The request comes two days after the symbolic ground-breaking, about three weeks following the announcement by Finance Minister Richard Gibson Sr. of the 326-room hotel with showroom and 450 executive apartments and less than a week before the September 26 Parliamentary election Read more
Leona Questions Gibson Over Back Tax Deduction
PHILIPSBURG--The abrupt deduction of back taxes from civil servants has been queried by independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo via letter to Finance Minister Richard Gibson Read more
Mp Marlin-Romeo Calls For Increased Border Control
PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo said on Thursday she has serious concerns about the level of security and effectiveness of controls at the country’s borders.
Condolences For France After Bastille Day Attack
PHILIPSBURG--Condolences to the Government and people of France following the tragic loss of life on Bastille Day in Nice has been expressed by United St. Maarten party (USp), One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP) and independent Member of Parliament Read more Candidates in this article:
Kingdom Law Proposal Debated With Dutch Caribbean Delegates
THE HAGUE--It was quite an exceptional setting in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday, with seven special delegates from the Dutch Caribbean Parliaments seated in the benches: Rene Herdé, Desiree de Sousa-Croes, Ady Thijsen and Andin Bikker of Aruba, Glenn Sulvaran of Curaçao and Cornelius de Weever and Leona Marlin-Romeo of St Read more
Marlin-Romeo Wants Plans For Ventilation Of Sports Facilities
PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo has raised her concerns with Minister of Sports and Health Silveria Jacobs about the plan of approach on e Read more
Leona Says Clarity Needed On Us Visa Requirements
PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo on Monday wrote President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams regarding visa requirements for persons from the former Netherlands Antilles entering the USA Read more
Marlin-Romeo Writes Sarah About ‘Abrupt’ Suspension
PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo has sent a letter to Parliament Chairwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams about the “abrupt suspension†o Read more
Mps Pepper Ministers With Questions In Budget Debate
Independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo (standing) speaks in the budget debate on Monday.
PHILIPSBURG--The 2016 draft budget was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Richard Gibson on Monday morning in Parliament House. Members of Parliament (MPs), who had up to 90 minutes to speak, peppered the Council of Ministers with a barrage of questions spanning from the budget and Government policies to general topics of interest.
The seven Ministers, who all made presentations about the working of their Ministries on Monday, will be back in Parliament today, Tuesday, starting at 2:00pm to deliver answers to the questions from MPs Read more
‘Shotgun Budget’ Tabled In Parliament By Gibson
Finance Minister Richard Gibson (right) with MP Maurice Lake.
PHILIPSBURG--Parliament is faced with a “shotgun budget†as the draft 2016 budget was described by Finance Minister Richard Gibson Read more
PHILIPSBURG--Parliament is faced with a “shotgun budget†as the draft 2016 budget was described by Finance Minister Richard Gibson. The Minister tabled the budget, totaling NAf 438,000 in the Central Committee meeting of Parliament on this morning.
There is “no time to do the budget as it should have been done†and to get all policies from the seven ministries covered, said the Minister Read more
Urgent Parliament Meeting Requested About Nipa Issue
PHILIPSBURG--An urgent Parliament meeting has been requested about issues related to the National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) by Members of Parliament (MPs) Leona Marlin-Romeo (independent), Read more Candidates in this article:
Mp Sees Efforts To Allow Holland Students To Vote Discriminatory
Sarah elected new Parliament Chair in spite of De Weever’s cancellation
PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams is again at the helm of Parliament. She was elected Parliament Chairwoman by the new National Alliance (NA)-led coalition in an extraordinary meeting of Parliament on Thursday evening Read more
Government has ‘autonomous right’ to dissolve Parliament
~ Governor wrote in 2013 letter ~
PHILIPSBURG--“The right to dissolve Parliament by national decree is a constitutional and autonomous right of the Government,†wrote Governor Eugene Holiday in a letter dated May 16, 2013, to then-Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams when she tried to stopped the then-National Alliance (NA)-led Council of Ministers from invoking Article 59 of the Constitution.
The letter came to light this week as political tension intensified between the newest NA-led coalition with a majority in Parliament and the UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo-supported Council of Ministers, after the crumbling of the United People’s (UP) party-led coalition.
The current Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has held tight to the view that it is its right to dissolve Parliament in the face of the shifted majority in Parliament Read more
Editorial - Something has to give
The latest news last night in the ongoing constitutional saga was that the “new majority†has organised a Parliament meeting of its own to elect a new president, vice-president and second vice-president in place of those of the former UP-led coalition. This obviously will not be a “regular†meeting called by the secretariat on the instruction of the current chairperson and the legality of any decisions taken consequently will no doubt be questioned by those who favour dissolving the legislature and going back to the polls.
When the same thing happened in Curaçao in 2012, the new majority’s gatherings created a situation where at one point there were two different persons claiming to be President of Parliament Read more
Marlin-Romeo resigns as Vice-Chair of Parliament
PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo has notified current Chairman of Parliament Dr. Lloyd Richardson and Secretaries-General (SGs) that effective immediately, the position she held as Vice-Chairperson is being made available.
Marlin-Romeo “duly notes that there is a new majority in Parliament and therefore, the appointment of the new chairmanship must transpire,†a press release said Read more
Editorial - Deadlocked for now
Anybody expecting that the Parliament session on Tuesday to elect a new President and two Vice-Presidents might lead to some breakthrough in the current constitutional impasse between the new majority and the Gumbs cabinet was disappointed. Although both President Dr. Lloyd Richardson and First Vice-President Leona Marlin-Romeo had publicly made their positions available, they were not present and Second Vice-President Cornelius de Weever, part of the same former UP-led coalition, closed the proceedings as soon as they had begun, saying he needed legal clarification due to the Council of Ministers having passed a national decree to dissolve the legislature and hold snap elections.
The incoming NA/DP/UPS/Matser/Lake coalition did not appreciate this and called for an urgent new meeting about De Weever’s “illegal act†and its impact on the country’s democratic representation Read more
New coalition says De Weever acted illegally, calls for urgent meeting
PHILIPSBURG--Second Vice-Chairman of Parliament Cornelius de Weever performed an “illegal act†when he chaired Tuesday’s plenary session of Parliament and closed it swiftly without giving Members of Parliament (MPs) the possibility to react, say representatives of the new coalition in Parliament.
After De Weever closed the session they submitted a request for an urgent meeting of Parliament to talk about his “illegal act†as well as “the consequences for the functioning of Parliament and for the representation of the people of St Read more
De Weever seeks legal advice, suspends Parliament meeting
PHILIPSBURG--Second Deputy Parliament Chairman Cornelius de Weever took charge of one of the shortest Parliament meetings in the country's history on Tuesday and effectively thwarted the new coalition's move to appoint a new chairperson and two deputy chairpersons of Parliament. The meeting for which nine Members of Parliament (MPs) signed in, lasted approximately a minute and nine seconds Read more
MPs question Dennis on Zebec settlement at Port
~ Sarah’s call for more speaker’s time voted down ~
PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) fired off numerous questions seeking clarity on the Harbour’s settlement with Zebec Development during an emergency meeting on Monday.
The meeting was adjourned after the first round of questions to give Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson a chance to obtain answers. The meeting will continue at 2:00pm today, Tuesday.
A proposal by Democratic Party (DP) MP Sarah Wescot-Williams at the start of the meeting for the speaking time to be increased to 30 minutes in the first round and 20 minutes in the second round was voted down with eight MPs voting against the proposal and six voting for it.
The vote was called after United People’s (UP) party MP Franklin Meyers said he opposed Wescot-Williams’ proposal Read more
Registry to be made for access to ‘foreign’ birth certificates
PHILIPSBURG--One of the great hurdles faced by people born outside of St. Maarten – acquiring certified copies of birth and other certificates with vital statistics from their country of origin – may soon become a thing of the past thanks to a motion tabled by independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo that was accepted unanimously by Parliament on Thursday afternoon.
The motion sets the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet to work on the establishment of “an Integral Copy Registry.â€
The registry not only will make life easier for Dutch citizens, but will generate additional funds for Government’s coffers Read more