Dear Editor,
Last week I followed the convention of the Democratic Party in the US. While listening to the message of Michelle Obama and her husband, former President Barack Obama, what struck me were the similarities with the situation we have here in Statia.
They, like DP Statia, also try to encourage people to go out and vote in order to restore the democracy. They, like DP Statia, also are taking notice of the damage that has been caused to their democratic system, in their case by a president who believes he is above the law and has the right, when he feels like, to put the law aside.
And that is the crux of the matter. We did not end up in Statia in the situation we are in to today with the intervention by the national government because state-secretary Knops or the parliament acted undemocratically as some politicians want us to believe. The intervention on Statia took place because it was the former coalition government that acted against our ruling democratic principles, put the law aside, unlawfully spent government funds, signed contracts without the legal authority to do so. They, not the national government, are fully responsible for the intervention and that your democratic right to vote has been temporarily postponed.
Fortunately, in our democratic system the possibility exists that the higher government can intervene when a lower government ignores the laws and disregards our democratic values.
The DP has worked hard and advocated from early that Statia needs to return to a local democratic government as soon as possible. We believe in the importance of democratic representation in government by the people of Statia. We were kind of disappointed when the new law for restoring government in Statia came about. Particularly the four-step approach and the period of four, maybe five years this law may be in effect. Why so long, we were wondering?
The answer came when particularly the PLP, after their more than two years of hibernation, picked up with the same rhetoric as when they were in government. No soul-searching has taken place. They are planning to govern, if they get the chance, the same way as they did before the intervention. They plan to continue their aggressive and confrontational approach that led to the intervention in February 2018. They will continue, if they get the chance, their unlawful way of running our island. I can guarantee that, if the voters give them a chance to return to government, the restoration of fully local democratic government will be something that will happen in the far distant future.
The limited authority the Island Council will have in the first phases should not be a deterrent to go out and vote. Most important is the return of representation, your representation in our Island Council.
So, if you believe in our democratic system and if you believe in local representation, then you should not stay away, but go out and cast your vote in October. It is a constitutional right your forefathers and -mothers fought for. And not even so long ago, only since 1949, 71 years ago, general voting right exists for men and women on our islands. But when I ask you to vote, I ask you to vote for a party or politicians who stand for democratic principles, who stand for rule of law, who stand for stability, who stand for good governance.
The responsibility lies by you the voter. It is up to you how long the intervention will last. Your vote is therefore extremely important. Therefore, go out and make use of your democratic right to vote!
Koos Sneek
Democratic Party St. Eustatius
