PHILIPSBURG--Second Vice-Chairman of Parliament Cornelius de Weever took charge of one of the shortest Parliament meetings in the country’s history on Tuesday and effectively thwarted the new coalition’s move to appoint a new chairperson and two vice-chairpersons of Parliament.

 

The new coalition of National Alliance (NA), Democratic Party (DP), United St. Maarten Party (USP), and independent Members of Parliament (MPs) Silvio Matser and Maurice Lake has cried foul and retaliated by submitting a request for an urgent meeting of Parliament about “the illegal act by the vice-chair of Parliament on October 13, the consequences for the functioning of Parliament and for the representation of the people of St. Maarten.”

 

One of the issues the new coalition has raised as an illegal act is De Weever closing the session without giving MPs a chance to react to his decision to close the session (see related story).

 

The plenary session of Parliament, for which nine MPs signed in, lasted approximately one minute and 26 seconds.

 

Independent MP De Weever opened the meeting with the traditional “Moment of Silence” and handled the notices. He then swiftly said that due to the “national ordinance” submitted by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs to Governor Eugene Holiday to dissolve the Parliament as per Article 59 of the Constitution, he had “asked for legal clarification.”

 

De Weever, invoking Article 37 of the Rules of Order of Parliament, closed the meeting with a bang of the gavel and exited the General Assembly Chamber and Parliament House accompanied by United People’s (UP) party leader MP Theo Heyliger and party deputy leader MP Franklin Meyers. Although present in the General Assembly Chamber for the meeting, neither Heyliger nor Meyers was signed in for the Parliament session.

 

Present and signed in for the meeting aside from De Weever were members of the new coalition MPs William Marlin (NA party leader), Silveria Jacobs, George Pantophlet and Christophe Emmanuel (NA), MP Sarah Wescot-Williams (DP leader), MP Frans Richardson (USP leader), MP Silvio Matser and MP Maurice Lake.

 

Absent with notice were independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo and MP Tamara Leonard (UP).

 

Absent without notice were MPs Dr. Lloyd Richardson and Johan Leonard (UP). Richardson is said to have left the country earlier in the morning on an official trip abroad.

 

The Daily Herald