PHILIPSBURG--The William Marlin Cabinet has submitted a new national decree to Governor Eugene Holiday to cancel October 29 one to dissolve Parliament and hold snap elections on February 9, 2016.
Governor Holiday still has to sign the new decree that puts aside the one of the now former Marcel Gumbs Cabinet. Should he sign the new decree, Parliamentary Elections will be on track for 2018, the regular four-year cycle.
Prime Minister William Marlin told the press on Wednesday the Cabinet has outlined in its decree, submitted on Tuesday, that the “premise” of the decree was “wrong” and in spite of being published in the National Gazette (Landscourant) does not come into effect until December 15.
Marlin said the Cabinet “hopes” the Governor will sign the new decree.
Two weeks after the signing of the election cancellation decree, the Cabinet will appoint a “committee of experts” to review the country’s constitutional and electoral reforms to try to end government instability.
Marlin maintained that elections will not halt “ship-jumping” by Members of Parliament. Ending ship-jumping was one of the cardinal reasons the Gumbs Cabinet submitted its decree to dissolve Parliament and hold snap elections. He also cited the country’s financial state as a reason to not disrupt governance at this time.
Since the attainment of country-within-the-Dutch-Kingdom on October 10, 2010, St. Maarten has had five appointed Council of Ministers (Cabinets) as a result of constantly shifting alliances in Parliament.
The Gumbs Cabinet had submitted its decree to the Governor after it received a motion of no confidence from the Coalition of Eight, the majority in Parliament that put the Marlin Cabinet in office. The Coalition of Eight had spoken out against the decree from the moment it was submitted to the Governor.
The cancellation of the decree giving the people the right to go back to the polls just over a year after the election in 2014 has been criticised by the five new political parties that have prepared to contest the February 9, 2016 elections. The parties have sent a protest letter to the Governor asking for him to use his better judgement when dealing with the draft decree.
The protest letter was submitted on Monday, a day before the draft decree was sent by the Cabinet to the Governor for signature.
