Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
An estimated 200 people showed up for Sunday's demonstration against the intervention by the Kingdom Council of Ministers in the process to form a local government. The crowd may not have seemed that large in absolute numbers, but for St. Maarten, where people rarely take to streets to protest anything, it was significant.
Some who disagree with the participants might argue that they were mostly UP sympathisers, as the instruction from the Netherlands to Governor Eugene Holiday obviously is aimed at that party and its leader Theo Heyliger, to prevent him from becoming prime minister. However, to say all those present probably support the green party would be far too easy and actually would miss the point.
The reality is that various voters for other parties too are concerned about what they perceive as meddling in the internal affairs of the country. While the Dutch political establishment sees it as purely an integrity issue involving suspected vote- and seat-buying, many believe a precedent is being set that puts the local autonomy at risk.
To appreciate the latter, one must keep in mind that it regards not just the current instruction, but also the previous order to Holiday for an integrity inquiry that supposedly led to this latest decision, although the political twists and turns following the August 29 polls no doubt played a role. Besides that, Governor Fredis Refunjol being stopped by The Hague from ratifying the adjusted 2014 budget of Aruba made an impression as well.
The Netherlands Antilles may have been dismantled, but the autonomy the former colony enjoyed since the Kingdom Charter was signed on December 15, 1954, is not something islanders are willing to surrender easily or take for granted. After all, it's an emancipation right that was fought for by illustrious former statesmen such as "Doktor" da Costa Gomes and Efrain Jonckheer.
It should also be noted that the Parliament motion condemning the instruction in Philipsburg was carried unanimously, despite the fact that an opposition member during the very same meeting mentioned attempts to bribe him both before the 2010 elections and after he recently earned his first seat in the legislature four years later. That revelation did not stop the fraction he represents from opposing the measure along with the incoming UP/DP/Marlin-Romeo coalition.
So, while the Dutch Government clearly is sticking to its guns on this matter (see related article), expectations are that the list of proposed ministers will be submitted soon, but without the candidates having agreed to being screened in the far-reaching way imposed via the governor. What exactly is to happen then remains a big question mark.
