Any doubt that the “new majority” of UP/DP/Brownbill would attempt to force a change in Government was removed with the announcement of today’s urgent Parliament meeting spelling out that intention. The expectation is that motions of no-confidence will be passed against members of the William Marlin Cabinet representing NA and US party.
That’s no guarantee they will step down, of course. On two separate occasions in the recent past Councils of Ministers in similar situations have moved to dissolve the legislature and call early elections instead, creating a constitutional deadlock.
That would be a highly regrettable scenario, because the whole idea behind forming the incoming coalition was “breaking the impasse on Dutch aid.” The island and its people suffering the dire consequences of monster Hurricane Irma badly need help from the Netherlands to recover and can ill-afford another “Mexican standoff,” as the current Prime Minister once phrased it.
Of course, some will argue that – supposedly due to the Council of Advice’s recommendations – the Government of St. Maarten did ultimately accept conditions regarding the Integrity Chamber set for the financial assistance, by going back to the set-up in the protocol that former Justice Minister Dennis Richardson signed on behalf of the – then – Marcel Gumbs Cabinet. The issue of added demands concerning border control seems bit less straightforward.
Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops has already indicated (see related story) that explicit agreement on both matters is required. To what extent such reassurances can still be provided by the NA-led government is unclear, but it appears the new UP-led majority won’t be willing to await that process.
“Too late,” is what Parliament President and DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams, in her press conference on Tuesday, called Monday’s turnaround by Prime Minister Marlin. However, based on prior experience, the end result of all this remains very much to be seen.
