Philipsburg:--- Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the National Alliance William Marlin told reporters on Friday afternoon during a press conference that there will be a "Mexican Stand Off" on St. Maarten due to the current political situation. Marlin said the National Alliance Ministers will be not resigning based on a letter that was signed by eight members of Parliament. Marlin also announed that Minister of Justice Roland Duncan tendered his resignation on Friday but his position remains the same where he believes that the Parliament of St. Maarten must be dissolved and new elections be called.
Since the news broke on Sunday that Member of Parliament Romaine Laville and the two Members of Parliament from the Democratic Party faction namely Petrus Leroy De Weever and Roy Marlin are no longer supporting the NA/DP/I-3 coalition, Friday afternoon was the first time Marlin spoke out on the ongoing political saga on St. Maarten.
Marlin explained to reporters that the Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams told him about the letter that was sent to her by the three members of Parliament on Sunday during the Fish Day Festivity. He said at no time did Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams or anyone give him a copy of the letter but on Tuesday the during the regular Council of Ministers' weekly meetings, the Prime Minister came to the meeting with one extra document and just before the meeting started the staff of the secretariat distributed copies of a proposal of the Prime Minister referred to as "The Resignation of Wescot Williams II Cabinet". Marlin further explained that in her elucidation she mentioned that she received a letter signed by three Members of Parliament stating that they no longer support the current NA/DP/I-3 coalition government and that there were eight signatures from Members of Parliament who stated that they are ready to form a new government. Marlin said that letter is not a decision and even if the letter was signed by all fifteen members of Parliament, the letter would still not have been in conformity with the law since that letter would not have been a decision of Parliament.
Marlin said that even though he never saw the letter up to Tuesday morning, he went with a prepared document where five of the seven Ministers of the Council of Ministers stated their position and took a decision which is to dissolve the Parliament of St. Maarten and call for new elections based on article 59-2 of the country's constitution. He said had the Prime Minister accepted the document they presented to her then she would have had to draft up the decree and send it to the Governor for him to sign. After that, the Prime Minister would then have to organize the election which would have had to be by August 10th, 2013. However, the Prime Minister decided that she would not entertain the discussion neither would she put it to a vote. "The Prime Minister made clear that the only thing she was discussing in that Council of Ministers' meeting was the dissolving of the Wescot Williams II cabinet which she would have put forward to the Governor of St. Maarten. Because of the Prime Minister's attitude, a huge argument started between Minister of Justice Roland Duncan and the Prime Minister. Marlin said the other Ministers could not have gotten between them but the other Ministers including himself made their position clear to the Prime Minister, they were not resigning and their position was that they want the Parliament of St. Maarten to be dissolved and new elections be called based on the current situation on St. Maarten. The Prime Minister is creating the impression that the only person to table a decision to dissolve Parliament is the "The Prime Minister." Marlin described the statements of the Prime Minster to be ludicrous because the constitution of St. Maarten clearly states that the Council of Ministers could dissolve Parliament and not the Prime Minister.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the reason his party took this stance is not because they want to stay in office or hold on to power but he as the leader of a political party will not allow the political party (DP) that has the least seats in Parliament to give the people of St. Maarten three governments "Wescot Williams III" in three years. "This should not have happened in 2010 and it should not have happened in 2012 but when the negotiations took place last year, the DP Members of Parliament insisted that they wanted Wescot Williams to remain as Prime Minister." This is the political party that won two of the fifteen seats and they are presenting a third Wescot Williams' Cabinet in three years.
He said because of the developments in recent months, they have to dissolve Parliament. MP Romaine Laville filed a complaint against the Leader of the United People's Party on at least two occasions claiming that Heyliger tried to bribe him twice. "Once Laville said his party leader offered him $250,000.00 and then $350,000.00 and he said it did not work because he did not accept it. The question we have now is what amount worked and what changed from the budget debate where Laville voted in favor of the budget and tabled several motions all of which were passed. Laville did not only make these statements to the Public Prosecutor but he also made it publicly on radio programs and other places."
Marlin further explained that the same people who could not work together from 2010 to 2012 are the ones that want to come back now and they are busy seeking out people in the community to create the impression that they are putting together a business cabinet. Marlin said the reason for this is because the former Minister of Finance Hiro Shigemoto cannot return to office because of the Piranha investigation neither can the former Deputy Prime Minister because of several investigations especially the ORCA investigation where his name was called by those in the tape who said that the person behind the taping is Heyliger because he wanted to use those tapes as blackmail to get back in government. Therefore, they are creating a smoke screen to fool the people of St. Maarten.
Marlin said that under no circumstances will the National Alliance Ministers resign and he assured the people of St. Maarten that even though the eight Members of Parliament think that they will bring a motion of non-confidence against the Ministers representing the National Alliance on Monday during the meeting that was called by two members of the National Alliance and Independent Member Frans Richardson that will not happen. Marlin indicated that there are people on St. Maarten that have been expressing themselves on the radio, blog sites, and in the public domain regarding what they think should happen. Marlin further explained that some persons on St. Maarten have put together a petition where they are collecting signatures and asking that the General Representative Bodies act now and call a new election. Below this article is a copy of the petition that is circulating on St. Maarten.
Click here to view the petition that is circulating on St. Maarten.
