A protest march organized by Brighter Path Foundation and Pro Statia in 2015. (File photo)
St. EUSTATIUS--Brighter Path Foundation (BPF) proposes the filing of a collective court injunction, demanding that the Island Council election, which was scheduled for March 2019, will not be postponed.
The foundation said it had taken note of the letter sent to Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Kajsa Ollongren and State Secretary Raymond Knops by former Island Councilman Clyde van Putten, in which he threatens to file a court injunction against the Dutch State should the state not retract the decision to postpone Statia’s Island Council election.
BPF started an online petition in February, protesting the possible postponement of the island, stating that this would be in contravention with Articles 19 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
More than 700 signatures were collected, which were subsequently submitted to the chairpersons of the Dutch Parliament’s First and Second Chambers, minister Ollongren and State Secretary Knops.
“However, up to this present day, none of the addressees responded to the petition,” BPF President Xiomara Balentina said. “Their non-response causes one to wonder if the voice of citizens truly matters.”
BPF feels that the impending court injunction should not be the work of one individual or one particular political party.
“Such a move requires collective action in which voters of Statia rally together, regardless of political affiliation, demanding that the inalienable right to elect our own people be upheld,” said Balentina.
“However, the success of such a move requires genuine and respectful dialogue between voters. In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt: ‘If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.’ It seems as if the signature drive was too soft a measure,” the BPF president said.
