The National Alliance (NA) congress confirmed that former commissioner Lenny Priest is “back home” by electing him as board president (see Monday paper). Priest’s ties with the current opposition party go back to its predecessor St. Maarten Patriotic Alliance (SPA).
However, in 2013 he decided to form his own One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP) that contested its first election 12 months later and received 169 votes, of which 86 were for Priest. He tried again in 2016 and the purple-coloured slate mustered 203 votes of which 108 were for him, still not enough for a seat in Parliament.
Priest re-joined with NA for last year’s early poll after the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma in September 2017, saying he was stepping back from the OSPP leadership to run with a party he believed felt the urgency of getting St. Maarten back to business. As number 12 candidate he received 136 votes.
It appears the return has now become more permanent, because one can hardly imagine the president of a political party continuing to represent another.
NA leader Silveria Jacobs in her address implored those present “never again to stand by as observers or mere complainers, but become doers, actively effecting change” they want to see beyond casting their vote. She urged them to – among other things – attend district council meetings, follow Parliament debates and Council of Ministers press briefings, question and hold government accountable, get active in their communities, organise recycling efforts, clean-ups, neighbourhood watches and the party’s various committees.
Her speech, reminiscent of the famous slogan by John F. Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” set the right tone. For a democracy to function optimally the involvement of its citizens must go further than just to the ballot box.
