PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin announced on Wednesday that the Landsbesluit submitted by his government to annul the October 29th LB submitted by the Gumbs cabinet to dissolve the parliament of St. Maarten and call for new elections is not yet signed but he expects that LB to be signed off by the governor of St. Maarten. Prime Minister Marlin also made clear that there will be no elections on February 9th 2016 even though he said the LB has not yet been signed off by the governor.
The Prime Minister lambasted the leader of the United Peoples Party Theodore Heyliger and others who have been making the news almost every day and even posting statements on Facebook accusing his government of hijacking democracy from the people of St. Maarten. Marlin said the election campaign have started and based on posts on Facbook the campaign is now ongoing in The Hague.
Marlin said that while the UPP leader said ‘the people’s rights have been trampled upon’ Marlin said he does not know which people the UPP leader is referring to because when he and others spoke to the populace all they are hearing is that they voted last year and they are not ready for another election. Marlin further stated that while his government submitted an LB to annul the LB submitted by the now ousted Gumbs cabinet he wants to make clear that the only reason that is done was to ensure that electoral reform is done, along with other amendments have to be made to the constitution of St. Maarten.
Marlin said while the UPP have been making headlines almost every day and is accusing his government for various things, he wants the people to know that the UPP/de Weever/ LRM/USP coalition was formed through ship jumping and even the current government has been formed through ship jumping and if they are to eradicate ship jumping then electoral reform must be done.
Marlin further stated that while the UPP has been pointing fingers at his cabinet one being that they refused to sign off on the purchase of a generator for GEBE he called on those that are making the accusations to provide him with the documents that GEBE submitted to government requesting their permission to purchase a generator. Marlin further explained that while these false accusations are being made the UPP leader and its government needs to tell the people why they did not do something for the Island Receivers who does not have a generator. The Prime Minister said the Island Receivers was renting a generator and the former government did not pay the rent and the owners of the generator took their generator away leaving the island receivers in a real predicament. Marlin said that his government does not intend to re-invent the wheel or go into further expense to purchase a generator for the island receivers, however, they have taken a decision to run a cable from the Government Building located on Pond Island to the Island Receivers office in order to provide them with a back-up when GEBE goes off.
Marlin said while the UPP and its coalition partners were in government for one year, they cannot show or say what they have done for the country. He said each time the Gumbs cabinet were called to Parliament they could not provide answers to Parliament yet they were busy doing things that would benefit their friends or friends of the UPP leader, one example Marlin gave was the long lease given to Rainforest Adventure.
