The following is the full text of the Message of Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs on the occasion of the 14th Anniversary of Constitution Day.
Fellow St. Maarteners,
Residents of our beloved St. Maarten,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Last Thursday, October 10th marked the 14th anniversary of our current constitutional status as an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, what is popularly referred to as “10-10-10.” However, the official celebration is the following Monday, which this year falls on October 14th. Whichever day we actually celebrate it, I believe the celebration should be imbued with more meaning and content. What does, or rather, what should Constitution Day mean to each of us? Similarly, how do we observe the day with more content? I’ll start with the first question.
The journey to 10-10-10 did not begin with the referendum of 2000, rather it started with the Mullet Bay Accord of 1985 when Dr. Claude Wathey gave St. Maarten’s full support to Aruba’s legendary leader, Betico Croes, right here at Mullet Bay thus paving the way for Aruba’s departure from the then Netherlands Antilles consisting of six islands. And just as happened with the West Indies Federation, six minus one, ultimately became zero. History will show that after Aruba left the constellation of the Netherlands Antilles on January 1, 1986, St. Maarten never felt comfortable within the so-called Netherlands Antilles of Five, not even with the island territory voting massively to maintain the status quo in the first constitutional referendum of 1994.
That political structure, baptized by politicians in Curacao as a “Restructured Antilles” was, for all intents and purposes, still born. And the fact that a St. Maartener won the competition to find a “national anthem” for the remaining five island territories in an attempt to craft an Antillean identity, did not save the situation. It took only six years for St. Maarten to decide in a second referendum held in 2000 that it wanted out of this Netherlands Antilles of Five. It would take another decade for the whole process to be concluded, and while we basically started from ground zero in 2010, Curacao, which was the seat of the Central Government, had all the institutions, agencies and structures in place to hit the ground running, so to speak. In my humble opinion, we have been playing catch up since, even though we have made some significant strides in our journey towards becoming a nation. We have created from scratch several institutions that were, until then, all centralized in Curacao. We even included in our Constitution elements that are unique to us such as the Constitutional Court. And as imperfect as our Constitution may be, it still reflects our collective ideals and aspirations as a people, with clearly defined rights and obligations.
Our journey to 10-10-10 was a journey of self-discovery, a journey of self-definition, and a search for our true identity. Our Constitution, therefore, represents our commitment to the rule of law, justice, and the inalienable rights of each individual. In it are enshrined the principles of good governance and of sound financial husbandry. In short, our Constitution is not just ink on paper but a living expression of our shared vision and mission. However, if I may paraphrase Frederick Douglass here: The problem is whether we St. Maarten people have loyalty enough, honor enough, and patriotism enough to live up to our own Constitution.
After 14 years of working under this Constitution, it is clear that we have quite some work to do. For example, although the very first Article of the Constitution prescribes that Parliament should approve a national anthem, this is yet to happen. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this very important symbol.
Similarly, our Constitution proclaims that English and Dutch are our official languages. Nevertheless, it seems to place Dutch above English where it concerns the interpretation of the same Constitution and generally in our legal system. This is despite the fact that clearly English is our mother tongue. We have to be courageous enough to give content to what is stated in our Constitution with regards to official languages. English should not be treated as a stepchild at all.
As we reflect on how far we have come in our journey, we must remember those who fought relentlessly to achieve our current constitutional status. Their belief in St. Maarten and its people, their commitment and dedication, their indefatigable spirit have led to a blueprint that is meant to empower each and every one of us to participate fully in the creation of a more democratic society based on equality, fairness, compassion and dignity.
To realize these lofty ideals, we must continue to strengthen our institutions, making them resilient and accountable, while embracing the diversity that has characterized our island from the very beginning. We must ensure that our children learn about how our Constitution functions through an enlightened Civics syllabus. And we must continue to be vigilant and work to improve every facet of our lives as a God-fearing, progressive and self-reliant people.
Constitution Day should be a reminder to all of us that our journey towards self-determination has just begun and that participatory democracy means creating a culture of inclusivity, where every voice is heard, and where dissent is not discouraged or crushed, but recognized as an integral part of the democratic process.
On this 14th Anniversary of the Constitution of St. Maarten, we must acknowledge that we have our work cut out for us. We have come a long way, yes, but we can do much better than this. We must do better than this because we are better than this.
Happy Constitution Day! God bless you all, and God bless our beloved St. Maarten!
