They say there is never a dull moment in St. Maarten and that certainly holds true these days on the political front. The incoming NA/US Party/Mercelina/Brownbill coalition took over and passed motions of no-confidence against five of the six sitting ministers, even though Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marin had already submitted the resignation of her cabinet after losing its majority support in Parliament.
Moreover, she and Justice Minister Cornelius de Weever were instructed to leave office immediately. That would leave just four ministers to run the country, three of whom have been told they no longer enjoy the legislature’s trust.
They are to refrain from changes to supervisory boards and managements of government-owned entities as well as from appointing or contracting any personnel, consultants, etc. This, until a new NA-led interim cabinet is installed.
The latter may take weeks, as candidate ministers would need to be screened. Moreover, once the November 25 elections are held and a next Parliament takes office on December 23, yet another government will have to be formed.
All this, at a time when several pending urgent recovery projects such as rebuilding Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) are at a crucial stage. Based on existing agreements, the question is whether finalising these matters can rightly be considered “new business.”
Thursday afternoon’s continuation of a Parliament meeting on developments surrounding PJIA should provide some insights as to how the current coalition sees things going forward there, which is obviously crucial for the tourism economy. It’s important to keep in mind that governing is supposed to be a continuity and – unless unlawful – commitments already made ought to in principle be honoured.
This is no banana republic.
