Philipsburg:--- The President of the Parliament of St. Maarten Rodolphe Samuel announced on Sunday morning on the Lloyd Richardson Talk Show that he will be tendering his resignation on Monday. Samuel did not give details as to how he intends to make his position available to the Parliament of St. Maarten.
The President of Parliament also gave another overview on how he handled every letter that was sent to him by the eight members of Parliament who said they form the majority of the Wescot-Williams III Cabinet. Samuel also explained to the people of St. Maarten for the third time why the meeting that was called by three MPs Louie Laveist, George Pantophlet, and Independent Member Frans Richardson was rescheduled and why he could not have chaired the meeting on Monday which was rescheduled to Friday May 17th. Samuel further explained that he had to bring clarity to the people of St. Maarten and that is what he did on Friday when he convened the meeting but did not deal with the two agenda points. He said the current political crisis has shed a very bad image of St. Maarten especially since the members of the highest legislative body are not following the rules of order that guides the functioning of Parliament.
St. Maarten's President of Parliament also clarified that what took place in Curacao was legally correct because the President of Curacao's Parliament was refusing to call a meeting. However, that is not the case on St. Maarten he said the letter that was sent by four MPs from the new majority had a mistake to which they admitted when he wrote them and asked them for clarification and then they requested that he placed their request as an agenda point of the meeting requested by the three MPs Laviest, Pantophlet, and Richardson. Samuel said that there are two articles of the constitution of St. Maarten that the people of St. Maarten will never forget which are articles 33 where Parliament can dismiss Ministers and article 59 where the Council of Ministers can dismiss Parliament. The only media outlet that has been bringing out the checks and balances of government through the constitution of St. Maarten is SMN News. SMN News posted many pages of A.B. van Rijn's book where he defines the constitution.
The current political crisis which seems to be never ending is being delayed because the Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams has refused to deal with a request and expression of the majority members of the Council of Ministers which is to dissolve the Parliament of St. Maarten, Samuel told the radio listeners on Sunday morning.
President of the Democratic Party Michael Ferrier called in on the program and shared his views on the ongoing political saga. One of Ferrier's concerns was which article of the constitution came first and for him he wanted to know the real reason Samuel did not convene the meeting on Monday. On the radio program Samuel made clear that he received a letter from the MPs that requested the meeting to reschedule the meeting because one of them had left the island to attend the funeral of slain MP Helmin Wiels.
Deputy Prime Minister of St. Maarten William Marlin also called in on the program to clarify the true reasons for the political crisis on St. Maarten. Marlin made clear that the meetings of Parliament are public but the Council of Ministers' meetings that are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays are held behind closed doors. He said one of the callers were on the mark when they questioned what really worked for MP Romaine Laville who told the people of St. Maarten and the public prosecutor that the leader of the United Peoples Party Theodore Heyliger offered him bribes twice to return to UP party so that he Heyliger can remain in government.
Several persons who normally listen to the weekly program also called in and expressed their views on the behavior of the elected officials. One of the callers gave MP Laville a public advice which is to hold on to what he was paid by the leader of the UP Party to throw down the Government because if the Leader of the UP does not get into power he will be asking for a refund.
Another caller said that she wants to know why MP Romaine Laville is given the chance to destabilize the government of St. Maarten twice, she is of the opinion that if Laville gets the chance to throw the government down a third time he will.
A meeting of Parliament is scheduled for Monday morning while several of the persons who took part in the march on Friday promised to protest at the House of Parliament on Monday morning.
