PHILIPSBURG:--- As 12th highest vote getter out of 90 candidates and 3rd highest vote getter in the DP, I have been requested many times to comment on the current political situation, I felt that making comments before things were clear could be disruptive to the formation process. Now that Sarah Wescot-Williams, leader of the DP, has made the position of the DP clear, I believe it is reasonable to make a statement.
As the dust settles, I would propose that opposition forms a united coalition since providing quality opposition in Parliament is a critical part of any properly functioning democracy. I will continue to make my contributions by supporting the DP's opposition efforts in Parliament. When and if the time comes that the DP can find its goals of Open Government in a governing coalition I will also be able to support this as well.
My reasons for getting involved in the political process remain unchanged. St Maarten is my home and I believe that as a member of the community, I have an obligation to get involved and to try to make St Maarten a better place to live. I believe that St Maarten is full of undeveloped potential and when properly managed St Maarten can support its entire population with a high quality of life.
I entered the political arena because I believed that real change for St Maarten would only come from real change in government and that government would only change from within. It is unrealistic to expect the beneficiaries of a broken system to change that system. The more involved I become in St Maarten politics, the more convinced I am that change must come from within government.
During one of the early DP/NA/US coalition meetings, I naively asked... "so when do the politics end? When do we get to a stable point where we can focus on the business of governing the island?" With a chuckle, I was told.... Poli-tricks never end... The reality is that to a substantial degree, the people's business is secondary to political brinksmanship.
It is my hope that our current cast of political players will put the interests of St Maarten above the political games which are destructive to St Maarten and only serves to deteriorate the people's already skeptical perceptions of the stability, sincerity and effectiveness of government.
There are some that believe that a concerted effort has been made to keep me out of government. While all of the political parties campaigned on open government, transparency and accountability, some believe that the political establishment was afraid that Emil Lee might actually come in and make it happen.
It has been reported to me that some politicians felt that it would be too disruptive to have me as a Minister that would:
- Put Ministerial budgets on line with regularly updated reporting on expenditures.
- Develop a clear Ministerial Business/development plan with updates.
- Develop and implement a clear departmental travel and expenditure policy.
- Be transparency on all Ministry expenditures.
- Revise the public tendering procedures allowing for small and micro businesses to participate.
- Make government issued licenses, permits like bus, taxi, vending permits public record
- Review of Ministerial expenditures to see where savings, improved efficiency could be achieved, thereby allowing more valuable services to reach the people.
What we say on the campaign trail is a matter of record. The people of St. Maarten deserve to be able to raise their expectations of their elected representatives living up to the reality of those claims.
Press Release from DP Candidate Emil Lee
