Dear Editor,
I personally lost respect for most politicians in St. Maarten. Few years back when myself and others had a crusade for and about love of country and recognition of St. Maarten people and were pursuing for the St. Maarten people to be recognized in our Constitution, the same politicians called us haters and not inclusive.
Presently, the Kingdom government and St. Maarten government are at a disagreement pertaining to the so-called aid, and the Kingdom government attached conditions that they do not agree with. I am not here to point out who is right or wrong legally.
What comes in to play is that the St. Maarten people are suffering and want to see results. Quickly we hear some say we should go independence. I ask myself how a bankrupt country with people without an identity can be independent.
Worse yet, they then start to play the race card to gain support from the people living in St. Maarten, saying the colonial white man comes to conquer us.
That is deceitful! St. Maarten politicians, just like Holland, are using an unfortunate situation for their own personal and political gain. Remember, these same St. Maarten politicians years ago rejected recognizing St. Maarten people in our Constitution.
These are the same people who say the law does not allow it. But the same St. Maarten politicians created a policy or a law to give three grace periods for illegal immigrants. Now the kingdom government is using that excuse to demand border control.
The point is this, if our politicians had practiced love of country and recognized the St. Maarten people in our Constitution, they would have had unity to defend them.
The St. Maarten politicians were always catering to themselves and families, and now the Kingdom government is using force and might over right. What is happening to our St. Maarten government is the same that the St. Maarten government did to the St. Maarten people.
Choices have consequences. Our St. Maarten government is saying, we are St. Maarteners. Now I will ask the St. Maarten politicians the same foolish question they asked me years ago, “Who is a St. Maartener?”
As Leopold James and I told them, no matter how you turn it, if you do not correct the past you cannot move to the future. The kingdom government knows St. Maarten is a divided country without an identity and is weak from within. That is why the kingdom government is using force and might over right. If you ask many St. Maarten people if they want the Kingdom government to control the border they will say yes in a private setting.
The conclusion is, because St. Maarten people do not have an identity and were never defended by our politicians, the kingdom government is now playing their Trump card on the St. Maarten politicians.
Having a new round of elections is a waste of time and money. Without love of country you can never fight or win a war.
The Patriot Miguel Arrindell
