That the NA and UP parties thumbed their noses at the people of St. Maarten/St. Martin on their day with their silly boycott is bad enough; that the Governor would fall for their silliness is highly questionable, but that the chairperson of Parliament, Mr. Claret Connor would compromise the office of Chairperson is regrettable.
The Chairperson of Parliament by law represents Parliament, not any faction or coalition of factions. The parliament of St. Maarten took NO decision to “boycott” the St. Maarten Day ceremonies and the Chairperson or his substitute should have been there in French Quarter, representing the Parliament of St. Maarten and by extension the people of St. Maarten.
Along with several other MPs, the Chairperson of Parliament just recently proudly displayed his participation certificate for the orientation training provided for especially incoming MPs.
Surely his duties as the representative of the Parliament must have been explained there. Still he chose to take sides and follow the new coalition’s lead. Did he even RSVP and if so, what did he communicate to our counterparts on the French side? We hope it was not that the Parliament of St. Maarten declined the invitation, because we did not!