~ PM’s words betray current positions ~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel has called the spinning of the government in the aftermath of the Council of State advice on the COHO as “typically deceitful” and said the Prime Minister of St. Maarten leads the pack when it comes to compulsive lying and political spinning.
At the same time, the MP reiterated his own position that St. Maarten should not entertain COHO in any way shape or form. “It will never get my support. You can dress up a pig and put lipstick on it, it will remain a pig,” the MP said.
Emmanuel said that government’s current back-tracking and flip-flopping to speaking now about the “trajectory” of the COHO and their stance being “vindicated” by the Council of State advice, is betrayed by their support of everything that is connected to the COHO. Including, he noted, the country package of reforms and the three laws that resulted in income and benefit reductions. Government’s position, he continued, is also exposed by the words of the Prime Minister as it relates to COHO.
He said the government “thumps their chest” and speaks one way on radio and other media to the public to score points, then on the floor of Parliament and in letters to State Secretary Raymond Knops say something completely different. “You cannot say oh look we are vindicated, then turn and do everything to facilitate a future construct of the same thing from which you claim vindication,” he said.
The MP pointed out that on December 14 the Prime Minister told Parliament that the government of St. Maarten received further clarity as to the limits of the authority of the COHO which will be there solely to assist the ministries with execution and monitor the progress made. The PM said the authority of the COHO is limited by the agreements established in the package of structural reforms concluded between St. Maarten and the Netherlands. The authorities of the COHO, she continued, do not encompass the powers that traditionally and legally belong to the Government or Parliament of St. Maarten.
“Remember I called this explanation, which was also reported on verbatim in local press, as a blatant lie since the COHO document clearly pointed to a complete administrative take-over. This has since been verified by the Council of State,” Emmanuel said.
Furthermore, the MP reminded that St. Maarten was able to agree with the Netherlands on a possible 15 million euros grant depending on the remaining funds of the Trust Fund by mid-2021. A maximum of 15 million euros will be taken out of the Trust Fund and gifted to the Government of St. Maarten through the COHO for public financial management and tax reform. “Again, more acceptance of the COHO by the government,” the MP said.
The Prime Minister also said on December 14: “The opinion of Parliament was clear with a majority giving support to Prime Minister Jacobs to proceed with the agreements related to the COHO.” Emmanuel explained that when the reform entity was first proposed by the Dutch Cabinet in July 2020, the governments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten saw the proposal as a violation of local autonomy.
However, Jacobs told MPs on December 14, and as reported on in The Daily Herald, that the COHO does not derogate the powers of government and Parliament. She said: “The COHO does not affect the role of the countries and the COHO will have its own responsibilities, with “extremely limited authority to execute of its own volition,” said Jacobs. “Its authorities are mainly derived from the agreed-upon structural reforms between St. Maarten and the Ministry of [Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations – Ed.] BZK.”
“The Prime Minister also lauded the discussions with Knops as a new beginning in relations between Holland and St. Maarten. Do you see the deceitfulness and word-play here? The PM obviously read the documents and concluded that the COHO was no threat to St. Maarten. She told the people the COHO was good for the country. This is the trajectory that they have followed for months. All of a sudden the Council of State shows that the COHO is exactly the opposite of everything the PM lied to the people of St. Maarten about and their story changes,” MP Emmanuel said.
He also reminded that the COHO was called ambitious by Dutch MPs attending IPKO in January, some of whom questioned if the legislation was vetted. He noted that judging from the comments by MPs within the kingdom, they too were apparently also out of the loop while some also dubbed the COHO and the programs outlined in the country packages as "ambitious and unrealistic" and in some cases "impossible to execute in the timeframes mentioned."
“Today, Dutch MPs are again doing the same exact thing and asking Knops why it wasn’t vetted prior to even being considered as a viable option. A blind person could see that COHO is heavy-handed and gives too much control to the Dutch and undermines the countries in the Kingdom. Nobody was saying this more than me the past few months, while others sat quietly, and blatantly lied to the public,” Emmanuel said.
MP Emmanuel said the public still awaits a feasible study from government about government owned companies and entities and their possible ability to assist financially as well as which exact points St. Maarten indicated to Knops to include in the COHO draft law, as indicated by the Prime Minister. “And we are still waiting on the country’s budget,” he said.
Additionally, the MP pointed out that by saying government wants to negotiate at this stage and discuss the “trajectory” of the COHO basically is a submission by government and its supporting MPs to accept the COHO in whatever for it comes. “And what about the UN petition? What happens if that comes back in St. Maarten’s favor? Discussion on ‘trajectory’ stops? What is St. Maarten going to negotiate now regarding the COHO, that it didn’t since July 2020? Only questions from Curacao were included in the Council of State advice. St. Maarten had no questions about the COHO? But today claiming vindication?”
He said the public has to guard against being fooled by government. “They all had the COHO document just as I did. They want you to believe that they could not see clear violations in it. What they were doing and still are doing is stalling for time. They could have told you that the COHO may suspend all or part of the assistance to St. Maarten at the COHO’s discretion.”
“They could have told you that suspension of assistance can also happen if the relevant government body or company does not implement a project or measure on time, does not implement a project or measure in the manner agreed in the national packages, or fails to provide the data and information or to cooperate. They could have taken a stand. But no, they said nothing and now want to scream vindication after the Council of State advised what any logical thinking person would have while buying time waiting on the UN and talking about “trajectory.”
