Philipsburg:--- Member of Parliament and leader of the National Alliance William Marlin sent a letter to the chairlady of parliament expressing concerns as to how much support staff will be allotted to each faction and the independent member of the parliament of St. Maarten.Marlin expressed his concerns in a letter to the chairlady prior to the meeting which was held on Monday afternoon. In the letter, Marlin said based on the proposal submitted by the chairlady to allot an equal amount of staff to all factions represented in the Parliament. Including independent member Patrick Illidge, it will be too costly for Parliament.
Marlin said the faction of the National Alliance is of the opinion that the support staff allotted to the various factions should be based on a proportional division; based on the amount of seats won at the polls.
Secondly, the faction of the National Alliance is of the opinion that a clear distinction has to be made between a faction and an independent Member of Parliament. The National Alliance believes that a Faction in Parliament is made up of the persons elected from the respective political parties contesting the elections. In other words, the Factions in the Parliament of St. Maarten are the National Alliance, The UP, and the Democratic Party.
Marlin further explained in his letter and during the meeting on Monday that an independent Member is any member of any of the respective factions, who for whatever reason has decided to resign from that faction. However, the Independent Member cannot claim the same rights and privileges as a Faction, as Factions are only established as a result and consequence of the elections. Any Independent Member should either join an existing Faction, or remain Independent until the next elections. That Member can then either join an existing political party or start his/her own political party Marlin further explained.
An Independent Member did not take part in the elections as a party and did not win any seat(s) as such. If parliament would allow Independent Members the same rights and privileges as elected Factions, this could have serious financial and organizational consequences for the functioning and operations of Parliament. In essence, the possibility would then exist for Parliament to be made up of 15 different factions, 15 faction leaders and no less than 30 support staff. Marlin said
Marlin also made two proposals to the chairlady on how to allot support staff.
- Base the allotting of faction support staff on a system of proportional representation. The more Members in the faction, the more support staff is allotted to the faction.
- Do not grant the same rights and privileges of Factions to Independent Members.
The meeting has been adjourned until Wednesday where a decision will be taken on the amount of staff members that will be allotted to each faction.
In the meantime, SMN News learnt that members of the United Peoples Party are enraged at the chairlady's idea to grant Illidge two support staff, the same amount that will be granted to the UP and NA factions. Sources say that parliament does not have its budget in place which will guarantee the amount of staff for parliament. Another concern for some of the members of parliament is the benefits that will be granted to parliamentarians and the phone bills that are soon to be paid. The source said some of the members of parliament representing the majority are thinking to vote against the proposals put forward by the chairlady if the budget is not in place.