National Alliance (NA) leader Silveria Jacobs stated the obvious by suggesting the parties that announced a coalition shortly after the election could have trouble aligning their views (see Monday newspaper) because of conflicting stances and priorities. While some may want to write her comments off as “bad loser” talk due to apparently being left out of government, the caretaker prime minister does have a point.
Combining two political manifestos is not easy; doing so with four widely varied ones to create a practical and feasible governing programme seems downright challenging. Since United Resilient St. Maarten Movement (URSM), Democratic Party (DP), Party for Progress (PFP and Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) each have the same two seats, their respective inputs should also be similar.
Of course, Governor Ajamu Baly in appointing Nilda Arduin and Candia Joseph as “informateurs” gave indications, such as stable public finances with reliable revenue collection via a simplified tax system, law enforcement including imbalances in the justice system and construction of a new prison, the legal position of civil servants, monitoring the ongoing reconstruction process, the country package of reforms agreed on with the Netherlands as requirement for COVID-19 loans and their refinancing, building more capacity with good employment conditions making use of the St. Maarten diaspora abroad and offering growth opportunities.
And then there’s the draft 2024 budget that will have to be handled by Parliament soon. There is only so much a next government will be able to change in this year’s main policy document prepared by the outgoing Council of Ministers. Amendments are always possible later, but any significant shift in figures will have to bear scrutiny by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.
To be sure, this column is in no way intended to discourage the incoming coalition partners, merely to remind them that although this might be a whole new ballgame, it will still need to be played on the same field.
