Philipsburg:--- Parliamentarian Romain Laville made democracy a laughing stock on Thursday when he strongly objected against the decision and advice submitted by the presidium to appoint Jozef David Semeleer as Grifier. Laville said in the first round of the meeting that he was taken, misled, and bamboozled with the decision taken by the presidium. He informed parliament that he had mixed feelings about the appointment of Semeleer when a local person (Cassandra Janssen) also applied for the position.Laville indicated to parliament that the voting will be done via secret ballot and his vote will remain secret. The statements made by Laville during the first round of the meeting coincided with the statements made by the members of the National Alliance faction who said locals are being thrown under the bus and that local professionals on St. Maarten are not given the chance to prove themselves neither grow in their country. Members of the National Alliance also requested that the meeting be adjourned or postponed so that parliament could properly discuss the advice given by the presidium but when the meeting was adjourned members supporting the government decided that they need time to caucus with their own and to pull Laville back into their fold.
The UP, DP and Independent member of parliament supporting the government spent over an hour convincing Laville to retract his statements while the members of the National Alliance waited patiently for the politicking to end. Almost an hour later, the President of Parliament invited the National Alliance members to join them so they could caucus but by then the NA members said they felt insulted and what took place was not caucusing instead the UP, DP and Independent member were trying to get their house in order. After expressing their views and caucusing among themselves the members of the National Alliance joined their colleagues who by then agreed to add an addendum to the labour contract that will be given Semeleer. Two members of the National Alliance namely Frans Richardson and Hyacinth Richardson did not stay in the meeting when they drafted the addendum simply because the National Alliance had their minds made up that they will not under no circumstance support the appointment of Semeleer as Grifier of St. Maarten's Parliament.
When the meeting reconvened members of the National Alliance informs parliament that due to the historic nature of the appointment of a Grifier they will not go along with the proposal and advice of the Presidium. While Romain Laville took a turn at the National Alliance and said they are the ones who took, bamboozled and misled Cassandra Janssen when they promised her the position of Grifier. Laville said that he too was fooled and misled when he worked at the harbor and he knew how it felt back then. "I too was a victim of false promises and I know how it felt" He accused the National Alliance for playing with people's emotions and warned that politicians should stop using the younger generation as scapegoats while giving them false hope. Laville claimed that while Janssen was given these false hopes and she was allowed to apply for the position she did not meet all the criteria. Therefore, the factions supporting the government namely UP, DP and Independent member agreed to hire Semeleer for a period of three years as Grifier and an additional two years as a technical assistant who will continue to train the appointed Grifier and provide technical assistance and support to parliament. In the advice given by the presidium and the addendum it has been agreed that after the three years the person who is appointed as substitute will be appointed Grifier.
The proposal went for a vote of which eight (8) of the 13 members present voted in favor of appointing Semeleer as Grifier. This means that while Laville warned that his vote would be by secret ballot and would remain secret it turned out that Laville was not man enough to vote his conscience but voted along his party lines. While members of National Alliance maintained their stance and voted blank.
This means that Jozef David Semeleer has earned a five year contract from the parliament of St. Maarten which would take him into his pensionable age.
About Jozef David Semeleer.
Semeleer worked as a substitute clerk of the parliament of Aruba from January 1986 to December 2010, at no time he was appointed clerk (secretary general or Grifier) of the parliament of Aruba. Currently, Semeleer is working as freelance translator in Aruba as he awaits his appointment as Grifier on St. Maarten.
While the majority in parliament claimed that is absolutely necessary for the Grifier to have a legal or judicial background, at least three of the candidates that applied for the position are practicing lawyers on St. Maarten they are Zylena Barry and Jason Rogers.
Names of persons who applied for the position:
- Cassandra Janssen Applied Sept 29, 2010 withdrew on Oct. 11, 2010 and reapplied after.
- Zylena Barry Applied Oct 8, 2010 but later withdrew her name. (Attorney)
- Anjenie Lachman Applied 13 Oct. 2010 (Attorney)
- Jason Rogers Applied 14 Oct. 2010 (Attorney)
- Jozef Semeleer Applied Dec. 7, 2010
- Joane Smart-Berkel who applied but was told that her papers have been misplaced.
Members of the National Alliance also highlighted the fact that while one of the Ministers have taken the initiative to do something to take the youths off the block and placed them on the bus the parliament of St. Maarten is throwing those youths and local professionals under the bus. Hyacinth Richardson remarked that one of the members of the government clearly flip flopped since he was in line with the National Alliance during the first round but by the time they finished with him he could not stand his ground. Parliamentarian Frans Richardson said Janssen went through the necessary trainings as she traveled a number of times to Curacao and Holland prior to St. Maarten obtaining its status change. Richardson also warned that while St. Maarten brought in a number of technical assistants none of them ever trained the locals. Richardson went as far as reminding the new members of parliament that they too did not know anything about parliamentary procedures when they were appointed (elected) and therefore, their actions towards Janssen were hypocritical. "You people were given the chance to learn the procedures of parliament yet you are not willing to give another local the same opportunity." He said several of the parliamentarians would go on the radio and say they are defending the young professionals but when they have to act and give them that fair chance it does not happen.
