Dear Editor,
We have had many Government fails and falls since 10.10.10 much to our shame, We had resolved last election this was not going to happen again.
I question today if this has taken place and nobody noticed. The question seems absurd. But allow me to explain.
Some time ago there was an incident in Simpson Bay involving the President of Parliament where he was construed to be interfering in the legal shutdown of a restaurant. It became clear that his status does not permit him to give instructions to the authorized agencies that were simply doing their job. His powers did not extend outside the boundary of Parliament and that the rightful authority was the Minister of TEATT [Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication – Ed.], who as it turns out was acting in the general good of the community. His defence that he perceived a wrong and this inspired him to take action was complete rubbish. It is now clear to all, that what he did was illegal, because being a member of parliament does not grant you executive privilege.
How then is it possible that an individual member of parliament, or even a group of parliamentarians are allowed to commit the same transgression with impunity? A group that has no executive standing. I am referring of course to the submission of a petition to the UN in a matter that seriously affects the national security and interest of our island. Has our Prime Minister been overthrown, and the people knew nothing about it? By extension therefore this Choharis law firm is acting without any legal basis, claiming to represent the people of Sint Maarten.
But since this law firm claims to be representing the people may we know exactly who is paying the bill? Because this matters; regardless of who they claim to represent, ultimately it is the party paying the bills whose interest is being sought. If it’s from Dutch liquidity funding then we can now safely abandon any opposition to the COHO [Caribbean Body for Reform and Development – Ed.], because the fears have been validated. But worse than that, the funds could be coming from an entity seeking to corrupt our justice system. This question needs to be answered right away.
I call on the honorable Silveria Jacobs to please stop this insanity, these people are standing in your shoes and you have an obligation to the people of Sint Maarten, to protect that role.
I would like to thank the three members of parliament who called foul on this, for their decency. There is a proper way to go about this, but this has been deliberately circumvented to avoid transparency. Shame and ingratitude are the words that come to mind.
Concerned and embarrassed citizen
Name withheld at author's request.
