Jacques “Billy D” Hamlet speaking at the launch of his political party. (Journal 97150 photo)
MARIGOT--Radio host Jacques “Billy D” Hamlet has launched his political party “I love Saint-Martin-Saint Martin with You”, becoming the second party to emerge after Rassemblement Saint-Martinois (RSM) the week before. The Territorial Council elections will be taking place in March 2022.
His well-attended launch took place in the Lazy Bay car park, where a number of speakers, including Hamlet, stepped up to the podium to talk about the failings of the present administration under President Daniel Gibbs.
It was disclosed one of the party’s ambitions is to divide the territory into communes that will be separately managed on the basis that the Collectivité cannot manage everything alone. The Collectivité would still retain overall control. Each commune would have its specific funding, like communes in France.
Hamlet said that his list has also begun attending a political training course given by leading figures in the field, including Julien Mérion, political scientist and teacher at Centre of Geopolitical and International Analysis at The University of the West Indies in French Guiana. Subjects include the Organic Law, Article 74, Collectivité, Functions of the Député, Senator and more.
“Elections should no longer be about last names and a popularity contest, but about knowledge,” Hamlet said in a previous interview. “The problem is, people are doing the same thing over and over again: making lists, but not having the knowledge to run the country. My group is founded on knowledge.
“Listen, we’ve had five presidents and 115 persons elected and it’s just not working. Why? At the end of the day, it’s because of knowledge. The Collectivité in St. Barths works, but not the St. Martin Collectivité. We need to know what we are getting into and to know the laws and apply them.
“Today we need to stop the clock, know what we are dealing with, get the real knowledge of it, and then the Collectivité and St. Martin is going to work. It’s not just for five years. We need to be looking 20 years ahead to fix all St. Martin’s issues. We need to get away from the personal interest and re-electing people who didn’t do anything when they were in power before. The St. Martin people deserve better.”
