THE HAGUE--Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) on Monday sought more clarity from Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops about the presence of international observers at the January 9, 2020, election in St. Maarten.
Van Raak referred to the article in Saturday’s edition of The Daily Herald in which St. Maarten interim Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs stated that election observers were not necessary and that facilitating their visit would only put the country in a deeper financial bind.
The Member of Parliament (MP) asked whether it was correct that the Dutch government had paid for the international observers during the last election, and why St. Maarten’s interim prime minister stated at this time that there was no money for election observers.
Van Raak wanted to know whether it was technically and logistically still possible to send observers to St. Maarten before January 9. “Would you also be willing this time to foot the bill for this mission of election observers?” he asked Knops.
Refusing election observers creates a bad image for the Kingdom, Van Raak noted. He asked Knops whether he shared that opinion. During a general debate in the Second Chamber last Thursday, Knops had already said that he found it “disappointing” and “not strong” of St. Maarten not to accept the Dutch offer.
During the debate, Van Raak, but also other MPs, were highly critical of the decision of St. Maarten’s interim government.
“For me, it is important that you display the attitude that you want to do well as a government. It seems as if the interim prime minister is not speaking the truth and conveniently blames the Netherlands,” he told this newspaper on Monday. “It is a bad sign that St. Maarten doesn’t feel the need to have observers at its elections.
“Fair and democratic elections are a must for every country. Governments must respect democracy and that entails having democratic elections. Countries that don’t want independent election observers are generally countries where governments and politicians have something to hide.”
He emphasised that the Dutch government had offered election observers in the past and that he knew for sure that this time again, it would love to offer this assistance. “Instead of trying to fool the people, the interim prime minister should be honest.”
If the cost was a problem to begin with, Van Raak also had some suggestions to deal with this. “Maybe the ministers can travel less. And, if the Members of the St. Maarten Parliament are finally willing to take a salary cut, there would be sufficient funds to send a lot of election observers.”
