PHILIPSBURG--The opposition fractions in Parliament will vote in favour of the draft 2016 budget only if several amendments reflecting the opposition position are made, United People’s (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Theo Heyliger told reporters at a press conference on Sunday.
When asked, Heyliger declined to specify the amendments the opposition wanted made on the grounds that this was for the negotiation process. Heyliger said he and UP MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson had proposed three options during a “very brief” meeting with National Alliance (NA) leader Prime Minister William Marlin and Justice Minister Richard Gibson last week.
The first option is to “play ostrich, hide your head” and wait until the situation involving MP Silvio Matser “clarifies itself” and see whether the arrested MP “will be active again.”
The second option, Heyliger added, is for the opposition to vote in favour of the budget with amendments being made that reflect the views of the combined opposition, and immediately after the budget is passed request the dissolution of Parliament and move the election date to the soonest possible time. He said a budget reflected the ideology of a government and if the opposition were to support the budget, the position of the seven members also should be reflected.
Heyliger’s third option is for the formation of a national Government that would include the seven-member opposition. The opposition’s only demand is “that the two members that took their seats away from the UP [Maurice Lake and Silvio Matser – Ed.], that we would require their ministries.”
This means UP wants the Ministry of VROMI allocated to Lake and the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT) allocated to Matser.
Heyliger said this meant that all other parties in the fraction would remain with their currently allocated ministries and positions. He said this proposal was “in best interest of St. Maarten.”
Heyliger and Richardson said they had informed Marlin that they expected the budget meeting to continue today, Monday, and expected a response to their three options. For this proposal UP said it would support the postponing of elections to pave way for electoral reform (see related story).
Heyliger said he and Richardson had indicated during the meeting that they were speaking as “a strong group of seven” and that there was no need for the governing coalition to discuss anything with any other opposition MP separately. Independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo and Richardson had been contacted by the sitting coalition to support the budget. Heyliger said there was “no rift” in the opposition.
In clarifying how the meeting with Marlin had come about, Dr. Lloyd Richardson said National Alliance (NA) MP Hyacinth Richardson had contacted him on Wednesday. He had not answered and when he called back the NA MP had requested his support in passing the draft 2016 budget.
Dr. Lloyd Richardson said he had indicated during the budget meeting that he “did not like this situation” and had told the NA MP that he was not going into any discussion without a group from “the team of seven.”
Dr. Lloyd Richardson said he had contacted Marlin the following day, after receiving a second call from the NA MP, and the PM, accompanied by Gibson, had picked him up. The UP MP said he then “told him [Marlin – Ed.] where we will meet MP Heyliger and that’s what we did – we drove and we spoke.”
Chairperson of Parliament and Democratic Party (DP) leader Sarah Wescot-Williams said Marlin had apprised his coalition partners of the talks with Heyliger immediately following their meeting.
Heyliger said the members of the opposition also had been apprised soon after. He said that when the budget meeting had been called last week Wednesday and the sitting coalition had been unable to muster eight members to sign in due to Matser’s arrest, the opposition “looked at the situation and reviewed the situation.”
He said “at no time” had the members of the opposition been asked by the Chair or Government to sign in to the meeting to help form a quorum. “We sat there for the 30 minutes required and left the meeting after,” he said.
Asked whether it was customary for the Chair to ask MPs to sign in for a meeting before they did so, Heyliger said, “We have signed in on numerous occasions without having the need or anyone asking us to do so, but a budget is a very fundamental position of the Government of St. Maarten or government of any country and thus when you are passing that, you must show us that you have your full support of your own Government before coming to any members of the opposition.”
He said he had learnt over the years that Government had a role and the persons who committed themselves to the formation of a government and coalition had to take this role seriously and be on time for meetings. He said too that when Dr. Lloyd Richardson had been Chairperson of Parliament, he had requested opposition support to form a quorum from time to time.
When asked about criticisms being levelled at the actions of the two independent MPs in opposition for not signing in to form a quorum, independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo said if the coalition wanted to prove that it had a government and wanted to hold meetings, it must first ensure that all its members were present and signed in and only then would she sign in.
Heyliger said the seven opposition members had not yet received a convocation for the resumption of the budget meeting. However, requests for some four committee meetings were received, including one about finance. A fraction leaders meeting also is called for today, Monday.
Heyliger reiterated that the UP was willing to “sign in and give Government a quorum” to continue the budget debate, as the party was cognisant that the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT would be on-island mid-March.
UP MP Franklin Meyers said that while what had happened to Matser was unfortunate, a slim margin was fragile. The governing coalition is in a “crisis,” he added, and “if in a crisis, [they should – Ed.] reach out to who can help you.” He said government should not “use the old adage” that support is needed “for St. Maarten.”
The opposition had been “strategising since we did not give a quorum last week and we continue to strategise. If we are to support the budget, it will not only benefit the governing party and the people, for our support we will want amendments to that budget that reflect us and if there is a possibility to form a national Government, which will benefit the entire St. Maarten, why not go that route as well,” Meyers said.
In the meantime, Heyliger said the party had “already started to look at all different scenarios,” but said discussions had not yet been held with Maria Buncamper-Molanus, who would be next in line to sit in Parliament as an UP MP, should Matser’s seat return to the party.
