Philipsburg:--- Leader of the National Alliance and Member of Parliament William Marlin told reporters that is he not a sportsman and as such he does not play games. Marlin said as a politician he engages in politics. Marlin said it is sad to see how some Members of Parliament are making statements to cover up their inabilities, one person he said is the Chairlady of Parliament Gracita Arrindell who he said does not know her job description.Marlin said it appears as though some Members of Parliament don't know the rules and proper procedures of parliament and as such they are making statements to cover up for their in-abilities and lack of sense of direction. The National Alliance leader said "headlines such as William Marlin is obsessed with Romain La Ville would sell newspapers but that does not advance St. Maarten as a Parliament who has to conduct the people's business."
Marlin said Member of Parliament La Ville is seeking attention as he is looking for some type of media battle while he (La Ville) is attempting to cover up his governments' failures and particularly for the Minister of Finance.
Marlin said he does agree with the Chairlady when she said "we have to stop playing politics and spend more time in the governing procedure". However, Marlin said he wants to know who is the "we" the chairlady is referring to, since he is definitely not playing games. He said politicians engage in politics while baseball players engage in baseball and football players in football. "When politicians begin to play games and they twist and turn things in an effort to cover up their in-abilities then we have a serious problem," Marlin said.
Marlin said the Chairlady in her statements said "we" all made a mistake regarding the draft amendment of the civil code to curb the abuse of the short term labour contract." Marlin said there was no mistake that was made by "we" but there is one chairperson of parliament with two deputies and there is only one proper procedure that has to be followed when a Member of Parliament or a faction submits a piece of legislation. Marlin said placing it on incoming documents and then referring it to the Central Committee does not constitute a mistake, neither does it change the proper procedures that are to be followed.
Marlin said he also took note of the statements made by the chair that said he should get his facts straight since the legislation was sent to the Council of Advice since July 11th. Marlin said those statements would make it appear as though he is bickering, but the piece of legislation was only sent to the Council of Advice after he inquired about the status of the council's advice. Marlin also confirmed that to date, the chairlady still did not follow proper procedures to send off the document officially and as such the Council of Advice cannot treat their request. Marlin said the only thing the Chairlady had to do was to draft a cover letter, attach it to the draft amendment and send to the Council but it appears as though she does not know what has to be done. Marlin said Parliamentarians must follow proper procedures to avoid the country being run like a banana republic.
Marlin said St. Maarten will make mistakes as they go along in the new structure but it is unacceptable for them to be making mistakes one after the other and rather than accepting responsibility, the chairlady pushes it off on everyone else. Marlin said St. Maarten does not have a young parliament as is described by the chairlady. He said the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles existed for over 70 years to which St. Maarten was a part of and the legislation for that is there to be adopted even though St. Maarten does not have its own legislation, yet basic procedures are trampled upon every day. "The minute the chairlady received this piece of legislation she had to send it on to the council of advice," Marlin explained that unless proper procedures are followed the Council of Advice will not handle the draft piece of legislation.
Marlin also gave some explanation on the draft motions that were presented during the budget debate on June 29th. Marlin said prior to presenting the motion it was discussed with all the faction and they agreed to vote for it. Marlin said later than night, when certain Members of Parliament got instructions from "higher ups" in the party, they all backed out.