SXMElections.com

“Saying That Elections Will Stop Ship Jumping Is Lying To Voters”

St. Maarten – Parliamentarians bitched and moaned about rules and regulations yesterday all the way until the final vote on the two motions the new majority presented yesterday morning. It was a losing battle for the opposition UP and its faithful independents and in the end, it did not change anything at all.

Independent MP Cornelius de Weever started with an attack on the new president of parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams Read more

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Dp Criticizes Mp De Weever: “Counterpart Policy Is A Sure Recipe For Massive Lay-Offs”

St. Maarten – “As much as he tries, MP and former Minister OF Public health, Social Development and Labor Cornelius de Weever will never be able to convince anyone that the reason for his defection from the Red-White-Blue coalition in 2014 had something to do with opposition he encountered back then to “his” counterpart law,” Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams states in a press release Read more

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President Of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams: “Mps Waste Hundreds Of Guilders”

St. Maarten – “Every half hour wasted by Members of Parliament costs taxpayers nine hundred guilders. (15 x 60 is 900 guilders). This amount is close to what some persons in our community earn monthly after deductions. It equals the school fee for others. For yet others, it equals the monthly cost for day-care,” Democratic Party MP and President of parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams stated after a meeting of parliament did not take place on Monday morning due to a lack of quorum Read more

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Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs: “I Will Not Back Down”

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

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Governor’S Explosive 2013 Letter Supports Dissolution Parliament

Possible elections pushed back to February 2016

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has sent an amended national decree to dissolve the parliament to Governor Drs. Eugène Holiday on Wednesday that would push elections back to February of next year. The amendment to the decree was necessary because the Electoral Council needs more time to give possible new parties the opportunity to register.

An explosive letter Governor Holiday wrote in May 2013 and to then Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams shows that, at that time, the governor supported the dissolution of parliament Read more

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Chair Aborts Meeting Within Sixty Seconds: New Majority Calls Action Mp De Weever Illegal

St. Maarten – Acting as the second vice president of Parliament, independent MP Cornelius de Weever wrong-footed parliament yesterday morning by opening and closing a meeting designed to appoint a new chair within sixty seconds after which he “ran out of the hall,” according to Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams.

De Weever called on article 37 of the rules of order, after remarking that the cabinet had submitted a national decree to dissolve parliament Read more

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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

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In Case Governor Signs Decree To Dissolve Parliament: Dp Proposes Interim Cabinet And Elections After One Year

From left: DP treasurer Giselle York, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams and policy advisor Emil Lee. Photo today / Hilbert Haar

St. Maarten – In case Governor Holiday decides to sign the decree to dissolve parliament and elections follow on December 8, the Democratic Party proposes to annul the current motion, to let the new majority choose “a capable Council of Ministers” and to set the date for the elections one year from the appointment of this council Read more

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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

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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

St Read more

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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

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St. Maarten Government Falls Again: Fifth Cabinet In Five Years In The Making

UP-leader Theo Heyliger (left) and MP Silvio Matser on 10-10-14 when they were still political allies. Now the political marriage is over: “I cannot take the internal abuse anymore,” Matser said yesterday Read more

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Parliament Goes All Out Against Attorney-General Schram “His Remarks Are As Bad As The Crimes He Fights”

MP William Marlin: “The AG insults everybody in St. Maarten.” Photo Today / Leo Brown

St. Maarten – Parliament unanimously make minced meat of the remarks Attorney-General Guus Schram made on September 11 during the installation of Judge Sander van Rijen and demanded his resignation (see related story on our front page).

“I do not want to get into a debate with the attorney-general,” National Alliance faction leader William Marlin said Read more

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