A press briefing was held at the Parliament Building with the Governor of St.Maarten & National Alliance Leader Mr.William Marlin, to address the issue of the formation talks, and the real reasons the National Alliance will not be in the government for country St. Maarten.
Present at the press briefing were members of the National Alliance, Mr. George Pantophlet, Dr.Lloyd Richardson & Mr.Frans Richardson.
THE FOLLOWING IS THE ARTICLE PLACED IN THE DAILY HERLAD WITH MORE INFORMATION ON THE PRESS BRIEFING THAT WAS HELD:
National Alliance (NA) leader William Marlin says reports circulating in the community are untrue that NA, which won the most seats in last week Friday’s Island Council elections, and which also won in fifteen of the sixteen polling districts, had not made any effort to be part of government.
At a press conference on Thursday called to "set the record straight" on the recent developments in the political arena, Marlin said that he had signalled his intention to initiate formation talks immediately after the preliminary results had been announced, and had called on parties to bury their political hatchets and work in the best interest of St. Maarten.
However, he said that the United People’s (UP) party and the Democratic Party (DP) had already been engaged in talks before the polls closed to form a coalition to "shut out" the NA.
DP Leader Sarah Wescot-Williams said at the signing of the UP/DP coalition agreement on Monday that the talks between the two had begun before the polls closed.
Congratulating UP and DP and making clear that the NA had no gripe, Marlin said that the people of St. Maarten, who had given NA more votes than any other party, were upset that their mandate had been disrespected, and the recent developments were "unfair to the voters" who had given NA a "resounding victory."
"There are no hard feelings that we have been left out, but from reactions we have been getting, the public is upset because they feel that the party that has broad support in all the districts [was sidelined]. They feel that the will of the people was disrespected and was put aside. They feel that the government that is there is not reflective of the will of the people. That is a reality this government will have to live with, and that is a reality that the people of St. Maarten will have to live with or will not accept."
Marlin said the "rules of decency" dictated that the largest party should be given the opportunity to take the initiative to form a new government.
"It is clear that they have joined together for party and personal interest and not putting the interest of St. Maarten first," Marlin said.
"In a decent, functioning democracy, there are certain rules that you [adhere to] and clearly this is not about any democratic processes, but about the self-interest of individuals and the interest of political parties for their own agendas."
Regarding efforts to initiate talks, Marlin said, "We got messages from the DP stating, ‘Thanks, but we already have an agreement with the UP to form a government.’ [DP Leader Sarah Wescot-Williams] has made it clear that, prior to the votes being counted, she had an agreement with UP. Word on the streets is that, while the votes were being counted, persons who had interest in those two parties met to ensure that they came together to keep the NA out of government.
"In keeping the NA out of government, you have minimised the support that the new government of Country St. Maarten will have, and you have minimised it to a one-seat majority, which is very fragile and vulnerable in any government, but for sure, for St. Maarten, to start building its country on the basis of what is best for individual political parties and for individuals to get whatever prize or trophy they would be looking for. That is the unfortunate situation."
He said there were "spin doctors" who were putting their own twist on the developments.
"It is not that William Marlin and/or the National Alliance doesn’t want to be in government. Why then would we work relentlessly and work hard, and now that we have become the largest political party, we will walk away from it and say we are not interested?"
4:30am meeting
He referred to a meeting UP leader Theo Heyliger had had with his son and an NA representative at 4:30am on Monday, at which Heyliger reportedly said he would team up with NA if he was given control of all government-owned companies, three ministries – including public works – Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague and the position of Chairperson of Parliament.
When asked about the agreement he had signed hours earlier with the DP, Heyliger reportedly responded by saying that agreement had been worded in such a way that it was not binding, and that he would be willing to form a coalition with NA. However, according to Marlin, that turned out to be "a game."
Marlin said National Alliance had chosen to do the responsible thing to remain in government to serve the people of St. Maarten, an oath that its members had taken. "I have been involved in ensuring that St. Maarten becomes country on 10-10-10. Had I done the irresponsible thing to campaign, then we wouldn’t have had an election."
Asked about reports that NA had approached candidates of other parties to team up with NA, Marlin said he personally hadn’t approached anyone, but that NA candidates had been approached even before Nomination Day to join UP "as a sign of cooperation" between UP and NA, but that these offers had been rebuffed.
He said that after the election, other parties had attempted to recruit at least two NA Members of Parliament-designate to bolster the UP/DP coalition, which now has a one-seat majority. "They felt that eight people were not solid enough to support the government, and [sensed] how inexperienced the coalition is in terms of the people who will be in the factions of the two parties," Marlin said.
Marlin also reported that, in keeping with how formation talks are conducted in the Netherlands Antilles, Governor-designate of Country St. Maarten Eugene Holiday had met with the leaders of the three political parties earlier this week. Usually someone from the largest political party is appointed to lead the talks. This was short-lived due to the UP/DP agreement.
Holiday’s initiative was taken, among other reasons, to ensure that there were no hiccups in the process. Marlin said persons who were to become ministers had to go through a vetting process and be screened by the security services of the Netherlands Antilles.
Marlin said he had wanted to set the record straight and put these issues at rest, lest they be raised in the future.
He concluded that the NA would do its utmost to represent the interests of the people of St. Maarten in Parliament, and that it would be a force to be reckoned with.