Member of Parliament (MP) Akeem Arrindell having declared himself independent (see related story) means United St. Maarten Party (US Party) is no longer represented in the legislature. Its other faction member Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper recently did the same.The party said in a release that it was “not at all surprised” by Arrindell’s move as this had been “a plan months in the making.” Not seeing him in last Tuesday’s front page photo with the new party leader Pamela Gordon-Carty could have already provided a hint to alert readers.
Arrindell allegedly threatened to leave since March because of changes the party board wanted to make in staffing of the faction office, supposedly to improve his “lacklustre” performance. US Party also said statements in this regard made by current chairman Cecil Nicholas before he became such, as host of a talk-show after Buncamper’s departure, were completely taken out of context.
Three of the 15 parliamentarians are now independent and that’s certainly not a record. Although none of the current members won their own seat outright with personal votes and thus got elected with the help of others on the ballot, the party has no control over them once they are in office. That is because of the “free mandate” system allowing them to act according to their conscience and not have to toe the party line for fear of reprisals.
The real issue is misuse being made of this right not for reasons of conviction in the general interest as envisioned but based on personal and often opportunistic motives. Doing something about that without affecting the democratic principles that apply throughout the Dutch kingdom has proven difficult.
What adds to the problem in St. Maarten is the so-called Lynch law stating that each party’s earned seats are distributed among candidates with the most votes, while in the other Dutch Caribbean countries Curaçao and Aruba this is done according to their number on the list. The latter gives the party board at least some control over whom it prefers to get into office.
However, US Party should not complain too much, as several of its politicians including leaders have come from other parties over the years. And for those who wondered, despite losing both faction members the party will not have to seek endorsement of its list before the next election, because it earned seats in the latest one.
