Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--It looks like elections on December 8 may still be in the cards. The Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has made adjustments to its draft national decree to dissolve Parliament and has sent it back to Governor Eugene Holiday for his signature.
The draft decree was sent to Holiday on the night of September 30, hours after the new National Alliance (NA)-led coalition passed a motion of no confidence against the seven-member Cabinet. The Governor sent the decree back to the Cabinet on October 5 with notations for adjustments and additions.
The major change to the decree is said to be the addition of missing information about the timeline for the Electoral Council to prepare for the elections.
The Daily Herald understands that although the Governor sent the draft decree back to the Cabinet on October 5, it only reached the Council of Ministers this week. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs apparently learnt about the return of the decree to his Cabinet when he met with the Governor on Tuesday. He then made a concerted effort to locate the decree and have the Cabinet deal with it urgently.
The Cabinet is said to be confident that with the corrections made to the decree it will be signed off by the Governor soon.
The Gumbs Cabinet has been at odds with the new coalition with a majority in Parliament since the adoption of the motion of no confidence was passed against the Cabinet on September 30. The new coalition has maintained that it has the right to form a new Cabinet, while the existing Cabinet has moved to invoke Article 59 of the Constitution to dissolve Parliament.
