Dear Editor,

Please allow me to express my opinion on the Band Clash/Road March competition that took place on Saturday, April 14. For a local show, the show was well attended. People came out to have a good time – as for me and my friends we were having a good time.

The first segment of the show (Road March) started and the contestants all gave a nice performance. I felt so sorry for contestant #6, who had to stop the music during his performance when he realized that his music was not up to par. He expressed himself on Facebook the following day about the unfortunate situation. He stated that he worked so hard with his team only to be disappointed with the music. He stated that his mother came out to the Village to see his performance and then this happened. The young man was practically crying as he described his feelings.

Okay, then they went into the second segment the Band Clash. There were three bands taking part in this competition. They all had 30 minutes to do their thing. The second band to perform was the TG Band. Now this band rocked the crowd. The third band came – they were good but not as good as the TG Band. They came to the point for “Face off.” Again the TG Band was more impressive and that is how the crowd felt.

The MC asked the fans to come closer to the stage when he asked who they felt won the Band Clash. The crowd cheered very loud for TG Band then for XP. Okay, down to results. Make a long story short. The un-qualified judges gave the win to XP Band. They did not deserve the win. No matter what local competition you attend there is always a cheating going on. To make things fair bring in judges from abroad who do not know the contestants. Let's be fair: give credit where credit is due.

Came to result for the Road March, the MC announced the wrong contestant as the winner, where he jumped for joy to the floor of the stage, only for the MC to do a “Steve Harvey” moment with “I made a mistake, I was wrong, King James is the winner.” This is crazy. This year there are no Queen Shows, but the end result of this show is the same thing. Bad judging.

Janice P. James

Carnival-lover

The Peace Ark sailed smoothly into Havana Harbor, floating past the aging brick Morro Cabana fortress under a luminous yellow sun. The Ark’s 416 crew members disembarked on a warm Friday afternoon in October 2011 without much pomp, pageantry, or even a token media presence.

Dear Editor,

“It’s already six weeks after the elections and still no government in place!” This is the comment, the cry or even the complaint one hears from people who are anxious to know what is going on. Well, a new government is actually the final result of a parliamentary election. So let us walk through the multiple steps that must be taken before a new Council of Ministers can be sworn in.

Immediately after the February 26 election, a step was added, which was skipped after most of the previous elections and that is the phase of the informateur. In the past, coalitions were formed, almost immediately, after the election results were made known, which led to the proverbial “3:00am coalitions,” which to date never have lasted. The longest-lasting coalition government since 10-10-10 only served a mere 19 months.

Let me outline the steps from parliamentary election to government or Council of Ministers so that one can get a better understanding of where we are in the process at this point in time.

On March 1, 2018, the informateur’s phase was ushered in when the Governor appointed two informateurs, Dr. Nilda Arduin and Mr. Jan Beaujon, to ascertain which of the winning parties would most likely be able to form the broadest possible majority in parliament. The informateurs delivered their report on March 12 in which they offered several scenarios. They concluded that, based on party programs and priorities, all of the winning parties should be able to form a coalition.

Yet, the informateurs were unable to point out any definite coalition due to, what they termed, personality, trust and animosity factors which were, in their opinion, “the real stumbling blocks in providing the country with a stable Government in the interest of the country and the people.” This conclusion already gave an indication that the forming of a coalition and subsequently a government could be a long and arduous task.

On March 16, 2018, the second phase of forming a coalition and government commenced when the Governor appointed Mr. Theodore Heyliger as formateur. His assignment was to put together the broadest possible majority in parliament. Mr. Heyliger held talks with all the party leaders as well as with most of the MPs-elect of the winning parties. Unfortunately, he was unable to get all of the parties to agree to work together to form a broad parliamentary coalition.

Meanwhile, on April 2 at 10:00am, the 15 new MPs were sworn in by the Governor and the new Parliament was scheduled to hold its first meeting on the same day at 12:30pm to appoint the Chair and the Vice Chairs of Parliament. Unfortunately, this meeting was cancelled, not because there was no quorum but, because the coalition had not yet been formed.

On April 5, nearly three weeks after his appointment, formateur Heyliger was only able to form a slim coalition of eight, comprising the UD, the largest faction of seven and the one-seat faction of the SMCP. In the past, the winning parties always played the numbers game. The informateurs, however, revealed some deeper insight into the political number game when they entitled their report “More than the Numbers.”

Now that the UD-SMCP coalition has been formed, there are four more steps that must be completed before the new government can take office. These steps are: the agreement on ministerial portfolios, the selection of candidate-ministers, the development of a governing program and the screening of the candidate-ministers. As you can see, after the formation of a majority coalition, the work of the formateur continues and is concluded only when the new ministers take the oath of office.

Presently, the UD-SMCP coalition is busy discussing the ministerial portfolios and the selection of candidate-ministers and plans to announce these at a later date. At the same time, the UD-SMCP coalition has started the process of developing and writing the governing program that will set forth the priorities and plans of the coalition. It goes without saying that the physical, social and economic reconstruction of St. Maarten must take precedence in this 2018-2022 governing program.

Forming a coalition and subsequently a government is a rather slow, tedious and lengthy process. I know that our people would like to see a new government in place as soon as possible. But I agree with the formateur who, a few weeks ago, said the “slow process will hopefully lead to a lasting Government.” How much longer will it take? It is difficult to say because the formateur does not have control over the screening process.

A few days ago, when I asked the formateur how long it could take before St. Maarten gets a new government, he indicated that it could take about five to six weeks. Meanwhile, the current “démissionnaire” or outgoing Government will be expected to discharge its duties in a befitting manner until the new government is sworn in.

People of St. Maarten, it is taking a little longer than what we are used to but let us hope and pray that this process will lead to a stable and lasting parliament and government for the next four years.

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the St. Maarten Christian Party

WHY NO NEW GOVERNMENT YET?

 Dear Editor,

 “It’s already six weeks after the elections and still no government in place!” This is the comment, the cry or even the complaint one hears from people who are anxious to know what is going on. Well, a new government is actually the final result of a parliamentary election. So let us walk through the multiple steps that must be taken before a new Council of Ministers can be sworn in.

Immediately after the February 26^th election, a step was added, which was skipped after most of the previous elections and that is the phase of the informateur. In the past, coalitions were formed, almost immediately, after the election results were made known, which led to the proverbial “3am coalitions”, which to date never have lasted. The longest lasting coalition government since 10-10-10 only served a mere nineteen months.

Let me outline the steps from parliamentary election to government or Council of Ministers so that one can get a better understanding of where we are in the process at this point in time.

On March 1^st 2018, the informateur’s phase was ushered in when the Governor appointed two informateurs, Dr. Nilda Arduin and Mr. Jan Beaujon, to ascertain which of the winning parties would most likely be able to form the broadest possible majority in parliament. The informateurs delivered their report on March 12^th in which they offered several scenarios. They concluded that, based on party programs and priorities, all of the winning parties should be able to form a coalition. Yet, the informateurs were unable to point out any definite coalition due to, what they termed, personality, trust and animosity factors which were, in their opinion, “the real stumbling blocks in providing the country with a stable Government in the interest of the country and the people”. This conclusion already gave an indication that the forming of a coalition and subsequently a government could be a long and arduous task.

On March 16^th 2018, the second phase of forming a coalition and government commenced when the Governor appointed Mr. Theodore Heyliger as formateur. His assignment was to put together the broadest possible majority in parliament. Mr. Heyliger held talks with all the party leaders as well as with most of the MPs-elect of the winning parties. Unfortunately, he was unable to get all of the parties to agree to work together to form a broad parliamentary coalition.

Meanwhile, on April 2^nd at 10am, the fifteen, newly MPs were sworn in by the Governor and the new Parliament was scheduled to hold its first meeting on the same day at 12:30pm to appoint the Chair and the Vice Chairs of Parliament. Unfortunately, this meeting was cancelled, not because there was no quorum but, because the coalition had not yet been formed.

On April 5^th, nearly three weeks after his appointment, formateur Heyliger was only able to form a slim coalition of eight, comprising the UD, the largest faction of seven and the one seat faction of the SMCP. In the past, the winning parties always played the numbers game. The informateurs, however, revealed some deeper insight into the political number game when they entitled their report “More than the Numbers”.

Now that the UD-SMCP coalition has been formed, there are four more steps that must be completed before the new government can take office. These steps are: the agreement on ministerial portfolios, the selection of candidate-ministers, the development of a governing program and the screening of the candidate-ministers. As you can see, after the formation of a majority coalition, the work of the formateur continues and is concluded only when the new ministers take the oath of office.

Presently, the UD-SMCP coalition is busy discussing the ministerial portfolios and the selection of candidate-ministers and plans to announce these at a later date. At the same time, the UD-SMCP coalition has started the process of developing and writing the governing program that will set forth the priorities and plans of the coalition. It goes without saying that the physical, social and economic reconstruction of Sint Maarten must take precedence in this 2018-2022 governing program.

Forming a coalition and subsequently a government is a rather slow, tedious and lengthy process. I know that our people would like to see a new government in place as soon as possible. But I agree with the formateur who, a few weeks ago, said the “slow process will hopefully lead to a lasting Government”. How much longer will it take? It is difficult to say because the formateur does not have control over the screening process.

A few days ago, when I asked the formateur how long it could take before Sint Maarten gets a new government, he indicated that it could take about five to six weeks. Meanwhile, the current “démissionnaire” or outgoing Government will be expected to discharge its duties in a befitting manner until the new government is sworn in.

People of Sint Maarten, it is taking a little longer than what we are used to but let us hope and pray that this process will lead to a stable and lasting parliament and government for the next four years.

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party