~ DP opts for ‘right’ not ‘smart’ thing ~
The four Democratic Party (DP) commissioners will submit their resignations from the Executive Council to Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards today. However, these won’t be effective until June 8, by which time DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams believes a new government can be formed.
The resignations have "absolutely nothing" to do with repeated calls for the resignations from opposition National Alliance (NA) leader William Marlin as a condition to start negotiations on a possible coalition government but is, simply put, "the right thing to do," Wescot-Williams said Monday. This move comes because DP "wants to take away any semblance of wanting to hold on to the office of commissioner."
The Media
She and fellow Commissioners Maria Buncamper-Molanus, Roy Marlin and Theo Heyliger see resigning as the right thing. After much deliberation within the party, she said, "We decided to do the right thing over the smart thing." The smart thing, she explained, would have been to call the NA’s bluff and allow that party to form the government "they have been saying and repeating they can form."
Mr.Ferrier
The three weeks given in the letters, which were signed by the commissioners Monday, should be sufficient for the formation of a government with "parties that are serious about working together in the interest of St. Maarten and its people to come together and have talks. … Let the talks begin."
Mr.Labega
DP lost its one-seat majority on May 7 when independent Island Councilman Louie Laveist withdrew his support for his former party, stating that he was paving the way for a national government – a union of DP and NA. It has been suggested that at the same time Laveist submitted his withdrawal letter to Executive Council Chairman Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards he also delivered a letter of support to Marlin.
The Media
Marlin has not given any indication of possessing such a letter to date. Wescot-Williams has said on several occasions, including Monday, that she strongly believes this is the situation and the core reason Marlin has been making what she considers to be unacceptable demands on DP – demands such as wanting three of the five commissioners’ posts despite the two parties each having five seats in the Island Council.
The DP leader said the commissioners’ resignations would reveal the "true face" of the National Alliance to the public. "It will become evident in the coming days and maybe week what the true intentions are of National Alliance."
Media
She expects that in future talks with NA, the demands and conditions that will be placed on DP "are going to be of such a nature that the Democratic Party will nearly be forced to say ‘thank you, but no thanks.’ If you think you have a government, you should go out and form a government."
DP will not take demands lying down, but will fight to secure a government for St. Maarten that is as stable as possible.
"I am getting a little tired about the amount of distraction from government and governing that is taking place," she said, emphasising that even with the resignations a government, although a caretaker, was in place and the running of the island would continue.
The Resignation Letter
Commenting on recent statements by Minister of Constitutional and Home Affairs Roland Duncan (NA), she said it was tempting to let him and his party take over government and complete all the tasks he had been insisting were not being carried out or taken seriously. "He makes these statements to justify his position that the next government must be one of a different signature, of a different policy and whatever have you."
If that is the basis on which NA expects to hold talks "then we are in for a long hot summer," Wescot-Williams said. Although DP has lost Laveist’s support, she said it remained the largest party in terms of votes received in the 2007 Island Council elections.
"To use the situation that we find ourselves in now to mean that the NA should be given carte blanche to come in and put their signature and policy on a government, then I can say these discussions will take a very long time," she said.
Wescot-Williams made the resignation announcement alone in the conference room of the Government Administration Building because the other three commissioners were in a marathon meeting of the Central Committee on the possible dismissal of utilities company GEBE Managing Director William Brooks.
She left the meeting to address the press because the meeting had been expected to be finished in time for the 4:00pm press conference, but continued well past that time.
The DP leader hopes that this move will be sufficient for the start of formation talks with NA, whose leader has been adamant that resignations must come to level the negotiation field.
While Marlin has declined to comment on DP’s latest move, the general feeling from the party is that this is just another tactic and shows DP’s lack of seriousness to move forward.
The resignations which will not be valid until three weeks from now, simply mean that any commissioner can withdraw his or her letter between today and June 8, some argue. This would seriously complicate any government formation if the commissioner who refuses to give up his/her post is left out of the next government should it be a DP/NA coalition.
(This story was taken from St.Maarten’s Daily Herald on Tuesday 19th May 2009)