Apart from plenty of drama, Thursday morning’s Parliament meeting brought some political clarity. It confirmed that the governing coalition has a minimal majority of eight in the 15-seat house, including independent parliamentarian Akeem Arrindell and Chanel Brownbill on behalf of United St. Maarten Party (US Party).
The latter two went along with the remaining factions of National Alliance (NA) and United People’s (UP) party in dismissing – then still UP member – Grisha Heyliger-Marten as Chairperson. They did so despite having voted against adding her removal to the agenda of another meeting not long ago.
No further explanation for this seemingly inconsistent behaviour was given. Perhaps it has to do with the duo’s acknowledged say in filling the current Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) vacancy, although some reports indicate that a swap with another existing minister is also possible.
But while the Jacobs II Cabinet thus maintained just enough legislative support, the original NA/UP coalition has lost three elected representatives during the past few months. As stated in this column before, the reasons behind that are best not ignored going forward.
How stable the new NA/UP/US Party/Arrindell majority proves is obviously anybody’s guess. At least for now, the Council of Ministers enjoys the necessary backing to continue.
In announcing her departure from UP afterwards, now independent parliamentarian Heyliger-Marten left open the question whether she plans to stay active in politics. As her former party’s by-far-biggest vote-getter in the last election, she could be a force to be reckoned with when citizens go back to the polls in early 2024 according to schedule or – who knows – before that.
