“Disgusting, petty and disrespectful” were just some of the words that
Party for Progress leader and member of Parliament Melissa Gumbs used when
expressing her feelings regarding Monday’s shenanigans in Parliament. Still, she said,
the nasty objective by opposition members was achieved, even though it could be seen
coming from a mile away. Gumbs is referring to two incidents that occurred on Monday:
the poorly written motion of no confidence read by MP Francisco Lacroes and, following
the adjournment of the meeting, the news that MP Kevin Maingrette had withdrawn his
support of the coalition by way of a letter submitted by a member of the National
Alliance faction staff.
“No one in the public is surprised,” Gumbs stated, acknowledging that she and her
faction were told by many that Maingrette was ‘the weakest link’ in the 2×4 coalition.
“We gave him, as we would with anyone else, the benefit of the doubt. But the
execution of what they have been planning since January 12, 2024 has only exposed
the opposition as a clown brigade, where ‘stability’ and ‘country above self’ are simply
alphabet soup for them. Let’s not even get started on their total lack of respect for the
electorate.”
“The electorate spoke volumes in the January 11th elections,” Gumbs continued, “and in
their commentary on call-in radio programs, on the street, on social media, the message
was clear: get this NA/UPP government OUT. You’d think a party that lost 1000 votes
over the course of four years would find some ability to be humble.”
Since January 12, 2024, the now-defunct National Alliance and UPP government have
spared no effort in attempting to embarrass and upstage the new coalition. From press
runs and sideways comments on the floor of Parliament to their constant meddling in
attempts to form a ‘more stable’ coalition, mainly via their approach to Maingrette, as
well as to other coalition members of Parliament. The latest attempt was the
opposition’s refusal to sign in and sit for a meeting to approve the credentials of
incoming members of Parliament Viren Kotai and Richnel Brug. The meeting, which
finally took place on Monday, had suffered from a lack of quorum due to members of
Parliament being absent or walking out.
“Coalition indeed was at a deficit for this meeting,” Gumbs admitted. “But when we see
the backlash that the National Alliance and the United People’s Party received due to
their own unwillingness to sign in and stay for the meeting, you realize that the public is
onto your games. Not giving quorum for a meeting to satisfy what is required by the
Constitution you swore to uphold, simply to play politics? When facing factions,
especially this faction, that provided your lame duck 7-MP coalition for six months with
quorum? Clearly, they not like us.”
When commenting on the withdrawal of Maingrette, who boasted via his Facebook
profile on 21 January 2024 that he “is not going nowhere” from the coalition, Gumbs
said it was unfortunate that persons would bow to influence from internal and external
forces.
“We know what they whisper in Sucker Garden and in Cupecoy,” she concluded.
“Maingrette himself told us, so I find this move of his troubling. It started with ‘Raeyhon
will never be Minister VROMI’ and now it is abundantly clear that the same former Prime
Minister who spoke about stability for the country really meant ‘rules for you but not for
me,’ in that stability is only important when she and her cronies are in the seat. That is
what they are saying to the people of St. Maarten.”
When looking ahead, Gumbs said that PFP remains dedicated to serving the people of
St. Maarten, in the face of blatant political interference by many external bodies and that
she would await the next update from Prime Minister Mercelina, regarding his
intentions.