Parliament adopted a motion condemning the recent actions of the Gumbs Cabinet and calling for its immediate resignation on the same day the entire Council of Ministers made their functions available as announced, while Governor Eugene Holiday signed
a national decree to dissolve the legislature and hold snap elections on February 9 (see related stories). It’s obvious that the new majority was basically venting frustration over the process and its final outcome.
After all, NA leader William Marlin is tasked with forming an interim cabinet to take office until the people have spoken at the polls early 2016 and a next government can be installed. As a result, to many it seemed the incoming NA/DP/USP/Lake/Matser coalition was debating “water already passed under the bridge” and practically acting after the fact.
Nevertheless, one hardly can deny there are still mixed feelings about the constitutional impasse in the past month and how it was handled. The uncertainty during that period now at least appears to be over, unless there are issues with the screening of proposed ministers.
Regarding the near future, current opposition members pointed out that the mention of electoral reforms to prevent so-called “ship-jumping” by legislators before going back to the polls in three months’ time simply wasn’t realistic. As explained earlier, the principle that a seat in effect belongs to the person occupying it is deeply rooted in the Dutch Kingdom’s parliamentary democracy and therefore cannot be changed just like that.
What could happen instead with relative ease is to repeal St. Maarten’s “Lynch Law” stipulating that candidates are elected according to the number of personal votes rather than the position on the list, even if they don’t receive enough individual support to earn a seat outright on their own. This legislation, meant to make the system more democratic, appears to have led eventually to a notable lack of control and structure among local political parties, with political instability as an unwanted consequence.
