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>PHILIPSBURG:---  On this Constitution Day, we mark five years of St. Maarten having obtained country status within the Kingdom. As we reflect on the experiences that have helped to shape the country we are today, it is important that we all acknowledge our continued role in building a St. Maarten we can be proud of, a nation that is an example to the region. Building a nation is no simple task; there are countless factors to consider. There is a path that we travel on as our little country continues to grow Read more

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

Moving Send-Off For Late Telem Group Employee Kenneth Blijden

POND ISLAND, St. Maarten – Family and colleagues gave a moving send-off to late TelEm Group employee, Mr. Kenneth Blijden, during a memorial service at the Royal Funeral Home, Sucker Garden, Thursday.

Mr. Blijden passed away at the St. Martin’s home last week following illness and having clocked more than 30 years in the service of TelEm.

Sister, Carmen van den Akker-Blijden thanked everyone for turning out in impressive numbers to say a final farewell to her brother, who she admitted could be “difficult” at times, although everyone knew his heart was in the right place.

Among those in attendance was Prime Minister, Marcel Gumbs and Mrs Read more

Plasterk says he gave no order to Governor

THE HAGUE--Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk said on Thursday that he has not ordered St. Maarten Governor Eugene Holiday to sign the National Decree to dissolve the St. Maarten Parliament and to convene new elections.

Plasterk dispelled rumours in certain media that The Hague was the reason Governor Holiday had not signed the National Decree the Council of Ministers, led by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, had sent to him last week following a motion of no confidence adopted by a majority of Members of Parliament.

"I didn't advise the Governor not to sign Read more

Kadaster manager occupying Conservator, Director roles

~Replacements expected at month-end~

PHILIPSBURG--Kadaster Manager Marcia Peterson has again, as of October 6, been sworn in as Acting Conservator of Mortgages (“Hypotheek Bewaarder”), as well as Acting Director – both roles held by Clemens Roos who was arrested June 24 on request of the Netherlands, but returned on August 18, after the Dutch Prosecutor’s Office granted a requested postponement of his sentence.

The postponement was meant to last until the expiration of his contract with the Kadaster, to “contribute to the Kadaster’s continuity,” as his attorney put it Read more

Prof. van den Berg in favour of dissolving

THE HAGUE--Constitutional and parliamentary law professor Dr. Joop van den Berg has come to the defence of St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in the Council of Ministers’ decision to dissolve the St. Maarten Parliament. He is the third Dutch professor to do so.

Van den Berg stated in a brief letter to Gumbs on Thursday that he fully supported the advices of his colleagues, Professors Arjen van Rijn and Constantijn Kortmann, in relation to the legality of the National Decree to dissolve Parliament following the termination of the Council’s majority support in Parliament.

Van den Berg stated that he had studied Van Rijn’s and Kortmann’s advices as well as a number of relevant documents in relation to the current political crisis Read more

>PHILIPSBURG: --- Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel has issued a strong call on the leader of the United Peoples Party Theodore Heyliger whom he said should practice what he preached in 2013 when the National Alliance led government wanted to call for new elections Read more

William tells Dennis to ‘do the right thing,’ ‘lead by example’ and resign

~ Govt. holding country, Governor hostage ~

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament (MP) William Marlin issued a firm call to Justice Minister Dennis Richardson on Wednesday to “do the right thing” and “uphold the constitution” by resigning, given the no-confidence motion passed against the Council of Ministers.

Marlin also accused Government of staying in office and deliberately stalling the process to buy time to make deals and further plunder Government-owned companies such as utilities company GEBE and the Harbour and to “fix deals” about issues such as the waste-to-energy plant.

He said Ministers still were travelling and squandering the country’s money while they should have made their positions available to pave the way for a new cabinet Read more

Some Coalition MPs afraid of new elections, wants their Ministers to resign but held back by UPP Leader.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Information reaching SMN News states that the two Members of Parliament that are supporting the UPP/ De Weever/ LRM coalition allegedly wants their Ministers to resign and does not want new elections to be called now since they know that they have lost credibility within the community and will not be re-elected if new elections is called now.
A source close to the minority coalition that is holding the island (government) hostage wants their Ministers to resign and to respect the decision given by the Governor of St Read more

Dennis says decision is being prepared on political situation

PHILIPSBURG--Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson said on Tuesday that a decision is being prepared on the current political situation.

Richardson was acting in that capacity yesterday as Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs was ill at home. Richardson declined to divulge details of the decision being prepared, but he said Gumbs was “very clear” on his position about not resigning and about wanting new elections to be held.

Richardson said also that the Council of Ministers had received a second advice on the matter, but he declined to say from whom the advice had been received and what the conclusions of the advice were Read more

Conference on driving OCT innovation starts

DAWN BEACH--A three-day conference focused on brainstorming and finding solutions towards diversifying economies with innovation, part of an EU-funded project called "Territorial Strategies for Innovation," kicked off on Tuesday morning with a full audience of private and public stakeholders, as well as a host of international attendees from the European Union's (EU) Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

The solutions will be geared towards boosting sustainable development and regional/global competitiveness, spearheaded by OCT Association (OCTA) based in Brussels, Belgium Read more

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

Prof. Van Rijn In 2012: “The Wish Of Parliament Prevails”

St. Maarten – Prof. Arjen van Rijn offered a different opinion about the position of parliament and government in an article in the Nederlands Juristenblad of December 7, 2012 that shows that constitutional law is not black and white. While Van Rijn advised the Marcel Gumbs cabinet this past weekend that its right to dissolve the parliament is autonomous and cannot be limited by parliament, in 2012 he wrote “If there is a serious clash between parliament and government and the tensions need to find a way out, then the wish of the parliament obviously prevails as the body with the most direct democratic legitimacy.”

Van Rijn refers in this article also to the situation in Curacao, where the majority of parliament sent home the Schotte-cabinet immediately Read more

Holiday: ‘No basis not to form new govt. based on new majority’

HARBOUR VIEW--A new Government can be formed in St. Maarten based on the new majority in Parliament.

This is the position of Governor Eugene Holiday, conveyed in a press release on Monday, after having concluded his consultations with parties on the recent political developments.

Holiday said that, having reviewed the correspondence received and following completion of the consultations regarding the current political developments, he had informed parties that “there is no basis not to form a new Government based on the new majority in Parliament.”

Holiday said members of the Gumbs cabinet had not yet made their positions available Read more

Sarah: Refusing to resign is breach of country’s constitutional legal system

~ Govt. asked for Van Rijn’s opinion after the fact ~

PHILIPSBURG--The refusal of the Gumbs cabinet members to tender their resignations after no longer enjoying the support of the country’s highest legislative body is a breach of St. Maarten’s constitutional legal system.

This was the firm statement from Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams on Sunday in reaction to statements by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs that he and the rest of the minister would not resign Read more

Gumbs vows not to resign

PHILIPSBURG--Feeling strengthened by the opinion of constitutional law expert Professor Arjen van Rijn and convinced that the St. Maarten Constitution must be upheld, St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has decided not to resign, and neither will the rest of the Council of Ministers.

“As Prime Minister I have the responsibility to protect the Constitution and to carry it out the way it was written Read more

Expert says, no objection to dissolving Parliament

PHILIPSBURG--The Council of Minister is within its rights to dissolve Parliament and to call for new elections, Professor Arjen van Rijn of University of Curaçao stated in his advice to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, which was sent Friday.

Prime Minister Gumbs called for the advice after three Members of Parliament (MPs) withdrew their support for his cabinet and voted for a motion of no confidence on Wednesday together with the opposition Read more

William to meet Governor today

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament (MP) William Marlin will be meeting with Governor Eugene Holiday today, Monday, on the formation of the new majority coalition in Parliament.

  The meeting is on request of Governor Holiday Read more

Governor will not sign Resolution to call new elections --- What type of stand-off do we have now? (UPDATED)

style="text-align: center;">Several Candidates selected to be screened for Ministerial Posts.

PHILIPSBURG:--- According to information provided to SMN News the Governor of St. Maarten drs. Eugene Holiday convoked Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs to his office on Friday where he informed him that he will not be signing the resolution for new elections since there is a majority in Parliament Read more

Dp Leader Outlines Reasons That Destroyed Their Confidence In The Council Of Ministers

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The council of ministers experienced a motion of no confidence against them this Wednesday during a meeting of Parliament.

The motion was initially supported by the opposition National Alliance and the DP factions in parliament however it turned out that the motion was supported by additional members who were thought to be supporters of the current coalition government Read more

New Elections For St. Maarten Possible December 8

From left: Ministers Rafael Boasman, Rita Bourne-Gumbs, Marcel Gumbs, Dennis Richardson, Martin Hassink and Claret Connor during what could be their last press conference. Photo Today / Hilbert Haar

Council of Ministers hits back and dissolves parliament

St Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Reacts To Motivating Points That Led To Motion Of No Confidence Last Wednesday

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - This past Thursday the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Marcel Gumbs called a press conference and outlined their reaction to the vote of no confidence against his government by the Parliament of St. Maarten.

Prime Minister Gumbs confirmed that the motion took his cabinet by surprise.

He Read more

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

Gumbs cabinet seeking to dissolve Parliament, call new election Dec. 8

~ PM: NAf. 150,000 available for new elections ~

PHILIPSBURG--One day after Parliament passed a motion of no confidence against the Gumbs Cabinet, the Council of Ministers is seeking to dissolve Parliament and have new elections called on Tuesday, December 8.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs announced at a press conference on Thursday that based on legal advice received the Council had decided to use Article 59 of the Constitution to dissolve Parliament by resolution and call new elections Read more