Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs: “I Will Not Back Downâ€
Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs (left) makes his position perfectly clear while Ministers Hassink, Sams and Connor look on. Photo Today / Andrew Dick
St. Maarten – “I will not back down,†Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs told this newspaper yesterday afternoon while he was walking back to the government building, where earlier yesterday he shed his light once more on the constitutional crisis that holds the country in a deadly embrace.
Professor Arjen van Rijn repeated yesterday in the Antilliaans Dagblad his firm position on the constitutional crisis: when the parliament hits, the cabinet is allowed to hit back 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