Dear Editor,
Let me congratulate all those people who for the first time postulated themselves on a list. I respect your courage and stance for participating. Congrats to all the political parties that were able to attain a seat and respect to all the top vote-getters.
Unfortunately, and as expected a coalition has to be formed to establish a new government. Here is where the challenges will define if a candidate or political party can be trusted and defines the individual or party character. When I read some of the party platforms, I know what their ideology is but the sad thing is, they do not know. This is the first obstruction in negotiation. You cannot negotiate for something if you do not know your stance on it and how best to approach it. The biggest challenge is that the people voted for somebody they believe is qualified or good, but in totality are their interests the same as yours.
An example, I heard many parties say they will build houses for the people. It sounds good but many parties want to go independent, but they are already shaping the people to be dependent that is a socialist ideology. The best thing to do is sell people the land to the people at an affordable price, set proper procedures in place and let them build their own houses. This makes them self-reliant and gives them the confidence to venture on their own ( capitalism).
Helping people and building a nation is not giving people free stuff, it is providing them with opportunities to help themselves. In reality, I have not seen a clear objective of how to create wealth and to attain the highest labour participation which in turn creates revenues for the government. History shows that oftentimes political parties' challenges establish when it comes to who will attain which ministry.
Suddenly greed kicks in and calm become a storm. One of the fastest ways to create jobs and cash flow is by investing in the infrastructure. St. Maarten's infrastructure is not tourism compliant.
We do not need tunnels and train nonsense. What we need is to create new roads that provide access to all locations. Build one-way, two-lane roads, and another one- way, two lanes from the opposite direction, certain parts will need viaducts. A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans for crossing a valley, dry or wetland, or forming an overpass. To get the best possible deals in infrastructure, let the companies fight it out to give the government the best maintenance deals and infrastructure pricing offers at the best affordable price.
Public transportation is a mess. We need bigger bus stops and pull over space for busses, we also need bigger busses to provide comfortable service if we want to have tourism compliance and public service for a decent well-functioning public transportation.
The party with the most votes has the most say, but that does not mean they have the best ideas that are possible and this is what determines how negotiations should be accomplished. The people of St. Maarten have to come up to par what they want, do they want more socialism, which is more government companies out of control, or capitalism, which will turn all utility companies into private sector companies. This manner of business usually gives better service and the government must make certain they pay their fair share of taxes.
I hear everybody talking about entrepreneurship which is great. I endorse that mentality because it is capitalism. In reality, we know we also must have a safety net because not everybody can be self-reliant and there are people who will need help. But that should not be the norm. I do not want a government that gives people free stuff or makes them dependent. I want a government that creates wealth. The art of negotiating and deal-making is now to see how the government will form. This is the calm before the storm. Choices have consequences, so, choose wisely.
The Patriot Miguel Arrindell
Dear Editor,
Elections are over and the preliminary results are in. I must start by congratulating the voters of St. Maarten on the manner in which they conducted themselves on Election Day. As far as I know there were no incidents where the law enforcement officers had to intervene and if there were, it was minor.
To those that did not vote, you also spoke and the outcome is also squarely on your shoulders. Those who executed their democratic rights spoke clearly. The National Alliance 6 seats, the United People Party 4 seats, the United St. Maarten People’s Party 2 seats, the United Democrats 1 and the Party for Progress 2 seats, total 15 seats. The people have spoken and all indications are that there will be a coalition government. Is this good for St. Maarten? Time will tell.
The million-dollar question is, who will form the new coalition. It is said that politics make strange bedfellows so there should be no surprises as to who will form with whom. Let us look at the different scenarios.
A coalition formed between National Alliance and the United People’s Party is a total of 10 seats. A strong coalition some might say.
Another scenario can be a coalition between National Alliance and United St. Maarten Party, which will be 8 seats.
An option is also a coalition between National Alliance and the Party for Progress which is also 8 seats.
However, history has proven that thus far no coalition has lasted a full term. Notice, I am being partisan because I have always felt that the party with the most votes should be part of the new government. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Will history be made this time? I believe it can. It calls for maturity and really putting the interest of the people first and foremost.
I am sure the negotiations have begun immediately after hearing the election results. Compromise is always a crucial part of discussions.
Taking into consideration the preliminary results, let me congratulate the National Alliance voters for their support and specifically the 116 persons who voted for me. I want to also congratulate the other parties and the 15 members who were elected.
I must remind you that you came in on the strength of your party. There is a humongous task ahead, but with God on our side we can meet the challenge. People are looking for serious leadership who have their best interest at heart.
I close with this quote from the late Dr. Myles Munroe: “Ambition to serve others is honorable and you should be motivated by your love for people, not your desire to be great.”
George Pantophlet
Let’s get PFP in Parliament in 2020 for a new vision, a fresh approach, and a second chance for a new beginning with well-educated, properly mannered, bright young professionals!
I am a DP to the core, but the DP is not running, so hear this: The PFP comes with no political baggage. Being brand new on the scene, chances are they will need coalition partners. My pick: UD and SMCP, so vote for them too!
I am going with PFP, UD and SMCP as partners because I don’t like misappropriators of funds; I don’t like bullies; I don’t like those that like to dig holes for others (even though they fall in themselves); I don’t like those that “turn” on and bring down their own, especially for no other reason than for self-grandeur and narcissism; I don’t like those that use lies to tear down people – local people; I don’t like those that hop on a bus, any bus, to get a free ride to the promised land of high salaries, free cars, government credit cards and other amenities, and I don’t like those on the various slates that postulated themselves even though they realize that when “common sense” was sharing, they were short-changed.
So, I am voting PFP, because we, the voters, must start doing things differently, if we do not want the same results of the past 8 years since the first ship-jumper took down Cabinet Sarah Wescot-Williams I.
May the force and guidance of The Big One be with us on January 9, 2020.
St. Maarten is my home.
Michael J. Ferrier
St. Maarteners, today is voting day, please do the right thing today – go out in great numbers and cast your vote.
Although in every corner of St Maarten from the east, west, north and south of the island you can hear “This election it is a coalition government again”, l believe in miracles. Voters will still keep sending a special voting message to all these parties and their candidates (UP party) they want to be governing this island since from 10/10/10.
These two lawyers Cor Merx and Stomp should be elected to help us within the laws and our justice systems.
The Dutch, Caricom, and the United Nations focusing on the election result, article 33 are our parliamentarians, article 59 are our ministers, and the coalition, are the voters. The favorite party majority voters favor to govern is UP.
Undecided voters, go out to vote. Survey stands at 5 seats UP, NA 4 seats, UD 4 seats (I quote). Undecided voters, go out to make a difference with two missing seats and please cast your votes.
Cuthbert Bannis
Today there will be elections in the country. In the last formation of government, the Ombudsman has advised on a wide coalition basis to be formed. This advice was not followed and we are now heading to the next election since we got a new constitutional status on 10-10-10.
Generally, it is unfortunately during the political elections too much about doing favors for family and friends. It is sad that there are still candidates who are on a list as “job seekers”. “I have to get a job out of this” is not thinking on a country level. The mindset should be transformed into “How do I use my skills for the country to move forward?” You can do this through various ways. The political arena may be one of the vehicles.
But, why would I actually vote in the first place?
Because it is my democratic right, I want to use with dignity. Voting is the act of citizenship per definition. Democracy is working with my voice. Voting protects my freedom in general and specifically my freedom of choosing officials. Casting my vote gives me the opportunity to choose the leaders I want to represent us; we would like to choose people who we trust, who view our ideas best.
There are many countries where people cannot choose who is pulling the strings. Fortunately, we have democracy in Sint Maarten.
Your vote makes no difference? My vote does not matter, is a common excuse not to vote. That is literally not making your voice heard. My individual vote might not be decisive, but in a democracy, it is the right to all those votes together. My vote carries to the total, bringing with it all those other votes to shape the future of the country. In this way my voice definitely makes a difference. The government plays a vital role in our daily life, with my voice I can influence that. Therefore, yes, my vote makes a difference.
No idea who you should vote for?
For such a small population and island like St. Maarten, there are many candidates, so lots of choices out there. All parties have good intentions and manage to bring their great ideas forward. You do not need to agree on every single detail of a party. You can make it clearer for yourself to choose. Begin with putting the parties aside which performed terribly. Or, those politicians who have been sitting enough in the seats of government in the past, but have achieved little of their promises. Consider which topics you find the most important and see which parties connect to these themes in your opinion. You can then easily compare the few remaining ones.
A “Voting Guide” would be able to help. So far, I did not see one in St. Maarten.
I believe that we really need to move towards installing a performance assessment of our members of parliament. What have they accomplished during their governing period? We should develop relevant performance indicators for this. Based on their presence in meetings, their experiences and their performance they should get their salaries.
In former elections, my substantive “content-driven campaign”, in an environment with few friends and no family in St. Maarten, did not result for me to become a member of parliament. However, I will definitely vote for the reasons I mentioned earlier.
With still too few women in leadership positions and in the political arena, there is no real balance in power. There are enough intelligent, energetic women out there, so there is hope for a better future.
We need those reliable, transparent, hard-working women at the forefront. Women need to claim their leading roles in government, NGOs [non-governmental organisations – Ed.] and the private sector, as they do so in their households.
I would furthermore opt for a constructive cooperation with our kingdom partners and with similar countries in the region. I believe that that is the way to go for our national development.
Finally, my advice to voters would be: Use your voting right. Let democracy work. Vote wise, look at content and actions, with a sustainable development of St. Maarten in mind, and give energetic, transparent women a chance.
Loekie Morales
