SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah A. Wescot-Williams has sent a letter to Parliament requesting an urgent meeting of the Constitutional and Decolonization Committee. This comes after several days of email correspondence from the Pro Soualiga Foundation on different matters, but especially on the topic of decolonization. The most recent communication from the foundation, actually advises Parliament why it can not/should not retrack its decolonization stance”, the MP states.
Letter to the Parliament of St. Maarten:
During the past days Members of Parliament, including myself have been receiving emails from Mr. Denicio Brison, sometimes a titre personnel, other times as President of the Pro Soualiga Foundation(PSF).
Mr. Denicio Brison usually concludes his communication with the request for comments and or feedback from the MPs. Several of Mr. Brison’s emails regard the matter of decolonization. It would appear that Mr. Brison, aforementioned is acting in some sort of advisory capacity.
– Is this so?
– If so, does this relationship have anything to do with Parliament’s motion of November 5th, 2020, no.1?
Given point no. 3 of this motion, …The Parliament of Sint Maarten endorses the initiative and legal actions of Foundation Pro Soualiga related to the decolonization of the former Netherlands Antilles, as well as the private initiative in Curacao with a comparable objective:
-Has this decision by Parliament been communicated to the Foundation in any formal way? If so, how and what was exactly communicated?
-What rights, if any, can the PSF derive from this motion?
-Will these exchanges and/or documentation be(come) part of Parliament’s official records?
-Is there any emolument(payment) to the Foundation involved, based on the motion? If so, what is/are the payment(s)?
-Does the Parliament foresee any other cost involved with the endorsement of the initiative and legal actions of the foundation? If so, what is/are the projected cost(s)?
-And finally, have any payments been made in connection with the endorsement of the Foundation’s initiative and legal actions as per the motion of November 5th, 2020? If so, how much and for what?
MP Wescot-Williams has requested that an urgent meeting of the Constitutional and Decolonization Committee of Parliament be convened to provide answers to the above questions.
“For the record, I will not be engaging with the Pro Soualiga Foundation until this matter is clear and even then , not unless these discussions are part of Parliament’s routine and records, as they ought to be. I think that this matter warrants a meeting during the Christmas recess, as it will influence the negotiations for the much needed liquidity assistance/loans from the Netherlands.” stated Wescot-Williams.
“Was it fair that Mr. Knops made the matter of decolonization a negotiation point? It surely made me cringe to realize the position we find ourselves in. Truth be told, though, we have no firm or convincing stance on the matter. One day it is the Kingdom Charter that is the Achilles heel, the next day it is the fulfilment of the UN’s criteria for colonized territories.
Say what you may about our Parliaments of the past, say what you may about the verbiage of our MPs ( self included) but I have never experienced a Parliament being openly lead by others with total disregard for democracy and the people we serve. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the lofty expressions to create a committee to discuss the constitutional future of our country, were but a smokescreen to give the Presidium of Parliament a free hand with the motion of November 5th, MP Wescot-Williams concluded.
