Dear Editor,
The key is the gentleman’s agreement. I was just in Aruba and had a very candid conversation with a European Dutch schoolmate from the seventh grade (1958).
We happened to meet each other at the checkout counter of a supermarket. He noticed that I had already reckoned my bill and, as he later told me, he approached me because I reminded him of an old classmate who he used to admire because that classmate used to be very good at hoofdrekenen (mental arithmetic) which was not his strongest suit.
When we got together for old time’s sake he told me that he had read my articles on line but did not really make any effort to get in contact with me because he had retired to his hobbies and had left the intensity of life to his children and grandchildren.
He said to me because we are all human the chromosome count makes a difference in why we do not all think and behave and develop identically. Which is necessary for the balance in life. We talked about a whole lot of things and on the political front he told me that there is no fundamental hatred from the Dutch towards us. On the contrary, the Dutch need us.
I responded with probably that could be the cause, if you find yourself stuck with something you do not really want. The problem is the politicians among each other.
In his opinion politicaians vying for office should always keep John 21:15-19 (He Googled it) in mind. For years there has been an unwritten agreement among the politicians that you do not compromise the integrity of the political leaders or leadership.
For us in this part of the kingdom this stems from when it was “Curaçao en de onderhorigheden” and Aruba already in those days wanted what was considered “Status apparatus.” The results of that was that the Netherlands Antilles (six islands) was formed and with the divisions of the seats per island Curaçao 12, Aruba 8, Bonaire 1 and the Dutch Windward Islands (Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius) 1.
It was not in the constitution, but there was already that gentleman’s agreement that Curaçao would not form the government of the Netherlands Antilles by itself (12 seats majority) but that there should be participation of all the islands. This also continued when Aruba left the constellation in 1986.
The government of the Netherland Antilles remained a coalition of parties from parties of the different islands. If a politician messed up it was expected of him/her to quietly go off into the sunset not to compromise the integrity of the political leadership. Court cases reveal much more than rumors which eventually will disappear making space for the nexr rumor.
Beside that it was normal for Holland to be kept abreast with any kind of negotiation with foreign entities. Over the years there were breaches in that agreement also which caused a breakdown in confidence. One of the factors for this kind of behavior is that the IQ and education level of the candidates (Constitution does not regulate it) is at a very low level or zero political knowledge or knowledge of the CIVICS of the country etc.
That gentleman’s agreement slowly but surely became “if you don’t tell on me I will not tell on you.” But with the social media and the nucleus of the population of Sint Maarten, the size of the island and the fact that people see each other almost every day, that does not work and the integrity of the political leadership has been and is compromised.
The fact that instead of walking off quietly into the sunset, the elected officials take government to court, are condemned, appeal the sentences and remain a member of Parliament as long as their appeal is not exhausted, is as it were a slap in the face of Holland whose hands remain tied because the same people who are supposed to be protected against this kind of an offensive behavior are the same ones who keep voting the offenders into office. And the polticians continue to neglect the same people who continually vote them into office.
There are two things: the Dutch (RST, Detectives etc) will continue to investigate and eventually lock up or the people will have to control the government with their vote. But as long as politicians continue to cover up for each other and do not care about the ages old custom of not compromising the integrity of the political leaders it will continue to deteriorate.
When you mess up, it is simple: GO! Do the people of Sint Maarten really need to be treated this way?
Russell A. Simmons
