Dear Editor,
Not too long ago I wrote to you suggesting that politicians, among others, should read. I do not know with whom these people hang out, but I overheard some men during a discussion claiming that Frans won the election, but because Theo and William got the most votes, they gave them the most seats. This obliged me to listen closer because I did not immediately understand where they were coming from.
Why did I begin with that we should read? Because by reading we could know a whole lot more than by just sitting around and listening to opinions. Opinions we usually have as a consequence of people’s behaviour or what they say. When you read you have proof of where whatever you claim is coming from.
As that discussion went on I found out that the reason for coming to that conclusion is because Frans has more candidates with more votes than the other parties. Meaning if we placed the 124 candidates in sequence of the amount of votes per candidate beginning with the most votes, Frans would have more candidates closer to the top than the other parties.
I have not taken the time to verify that because for me personally that does not matter because that is not how the elections are set up. If those men would know the civics of this country they would have known how the country is governed and who can be elected to office and how. One of the things that I always stress on is that part of being patriotic is knowing the civics of your country so that you can know who you are in your country.
That was what I overheard, now this is directly from me: The same way they have been gathering around the offices of the different political parties during the campaign, those who are eligible should continue gathering around Theo Heyliger’s office for him to make good on that promise he so adamantly made concerning “permanent residence.”
I reacted to that promise a few days ago already but, now that it is not all the way UP, but that the NA-UP are negotiating to form a new Government the people should demand that the “permanent residence” that Theo Heyliger promised them be part of the negotiations, because he knew exactly what he said.
It is time enough for politicians to stop telling people what they want to hear and be forthcoming. This is something else I heard that I think deserves repeating so that the voters can hear other people’s reasoning on why William Marlin and his team decided to give back the harbour and GEBE to Theo. There is a saying “loose lips, sink ships,” so here we go. Marlin was hoping to get at least seven seats so that he could continue working with Sarah, because they had more ship jumpers on the other parties.
Taking that into consideration and feeling unsafe because he knew that all ended up in the UP party in the past, the decision was ticklish, but he decided to do like the rat whose tail was caught in the trap. He broke away from the tail and said the best of friends have to part. Also Marlin was okay with Emile Lee and could use Sarah’s leadership and experience in Parliament. It was do or die so he chose the lesser of the two evils.
I personally would have liked to see a lot more of the young candidates get in but we have to make do with what we got. No campaign reform, integrity issues still to be resolved; a mysterious Chinese Pearl; an in limbo Vorst land deal; SVB moneys being used for everything else but to take care of the pensioners in the right way; a white elephant in the middle of a swamp, so I am challenging all of them to put their money (I hope they earn it this time around) where their mouths are.
Last election when I mentioned that Theo Heyliger lost, a lot of people jumped on me because he got the most votes. I will be bold this time again and let them know that Theo Heyliger lost again. Hopefully the fact that nothing was accomplished in connection with campaign reform does not cause a backlash. We know that birds of a feather flock together and we also know that the cage always had a supply of seeds.
Five and three and two are still ten. When I told someone that, they told me that Marcel surprised them and the Governor also knows how to go about it now.
Russell A. Simmons
