PHILIPSBURG--Newly-formed political parties Helping Our People Excel (HOPE) and Beyond St. Maarten Development (BSMD) have come out against the William Marlin Cabinet’s plan to halt the snap elections slated for February 9, 2016, until constitutional and electoral reforms take place.
Representatives of the two parties, which are still to be registered officially by the Electoral Council, said it was not constitutional or fair to the people of the country to take away their right to vote for a change in government. If the elections are halted, the parties plan to seek legal recourse, protest and petition Parliament, among other moves.
The Cabinet is expected to submit an amendment to the national decree to dissolve Parliament and hold snap elections. That decree of the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet, although published in the National Gazette, is set to take effect on December 15. The current Cabinet wants to hold off on the snap elections. Regular parliamentary elections are due in 2018.
HOPE leader Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt questioned, at a press conference she called in Holland House, “how lengthy” the process would be to make the reforms Prime Minister William Marlin said were needed before elections could be held. She said all parties with seats in Parliament now had had the opportunities to make changes for the past five years, but no one had taken up the challenge.
Van der Waals-Wyatt wants Marlin to explain to whom he had spoken who indicated they did not want or were turned off by the thought of elections. Marlin “did not talk to me. I don’t recall having a meeting with him. It is not my sentiment,” she said, adding that he could not speak for all of the people in the country.
She pointed out that the Marlin Cabinet had been charged by Governor Eugene Holiday to prepare for elections, not postpone them. The national decree to dissolve Parliament and head to snap elections has been signed by the Governor and published, she added. “We have the right to vote and it should not be taken away from us. … The people are tired of being taken advantage of. … We need to go to elections,” she said.
“The people are suffering from ‘atishoo! atishoo! The government falls down,’” said Van der Waals-Wyatt. There should be “no more ring around the rosie,” as the nursery rhyme says.
BSMD head Loekie Morales thanked Van der Waals-Wyatt for inviting her to the press conference. Morales said she shared the HOPE leader’s sentiments. “We are in full agreement. … We have the right to vote and we should go to elections,” she said.
Jacinto Mock, who founded the Social Reform Party (SRP) that unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Parliamentary Elections, said “ship-jumping” was not sufficient reason for putting off the snap elections until reforms are brought to the system. There is no reason to involve all citizens of St. Maarten in dealing with ship-jumping, he said. The matter should be addressed by the prime minister and representatives in Parliament, Mock said.
SRP will not contest the upcoming elections. Mock has thrown his support with HOPE.
HOPE has some five candidates for its slate and is seeking more people to join its ranks.
Beyond St. Maarten only has Morales for its slate. Morales said she was in talks with other parties, including HOPE, to join one of their slates. HOPE, she added, is at the top of her list. She is also seeing others to join BSMD.
