Dear Editor,
Many things come to mind when having watched our Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister address the Bada Bing scandal in this week's press briefing. Weak, evasive, bureaucratic even slightly arrogant.
With the international media spot lights on us since the scandal broke, the Prime Minister squandered a golden opportunity to emphatically state that in our new Country St. Maarten, corruption is not tolerated and that she will ask embattled, but innocent until proven guilty, MP Illidge to step down (vacate his seat). This in order for the investigation to continue unhindered and to give the signal that the St. Maarten Government is serious in dealing with integrity issues. If MP Illidge is proven innocent, he will be immediately be reinstated.
What all have witnessed from said joint press briefing is that the Prime Minister and her Deputy are protecting MP Illidge, instead of condemning the appearance of bribery and pressing for the MP to vacate his seat and have the investigation run its due course. For all the electorate knows: MP Illidge (and the 2 other Independent MP's) are in fact still "running this government" as he has boastfully claimed on the infamous Bada Bing videotape.
Our Prime Minister needs to step up and take a bolder approach in order not give more ammunition to her Dutch counterparts and the international community as a whole.
That would show leadership, which our new country is in dire need of.
God Speed.
James Spanner
Cole Bay
