Member of Parliament George Pantophlet says that we are all responsible and must cooperate for the people. Someone said that the voters share the marbles and the politicians play the game. An election was held, most of the persons who were eligible to vote casted their votes for the parties (candidates) they felt would or could represent them in Parliament. Many again for several reasons did not vote. Campaigning should be over and governing should start. 15 Members are headed for parliament, 10 supporting the government to be formed and the other 5 who are not but their role is the same as all the other members of parliament which is to legislate and also very importantly, control and or supervise the functioning of government. Why did I say that we must cooperate for the people and let me add we are all responsible, when I made this statement my focus was on the 3 powers namely the legislative, the executive, and the Judiciary but there are 2 more namely the press and the civil apparatus in that order. Now to the real reason for this article, statements were made about the cardinal and fundamental differences the coalition partners have such as the hospital project, the pearl of china project and the integrity chamber and so on. To me what matters is not the fundamental differences of the parties but which one reflects or comes closest to what is in the best interest of St. Maarten and its people. The art of compromise comes into play. To me what matters is that we must have a clear sense of direction of where we want to go. We must be well prepared, things must be well thought out. The people’s agenda must be a priority and some of these are just to name a few; salaries, the short term contract, housing, rent, health care, education, security, pension and more. Hence our personal agendas (government) must be subjugated to the people’s agenda. A good functioning government is vital to society. The civil apparatus must be given the tools to work with and importantly proper instructions. The people need and expect proper representation and to do this we must all cooperate for the people.
