In an interview with Curaçao.nu on January 14, outgoing Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs expressed her concern about the stability of the new coalition and the future of Sint Maarten.
“The opposition parties feel the need to keep us away from the government, so we are waiting to see if this new coalition, in my opinion precarious, can hold up,” declared Silveria Jacobs in reaction to the recent results of the elections of the January 11, during which his party, the National Alliance, and its coalition partner, the UPP, lost the majority in Parliament. The responsibility now falls to the opposition parties (URSM, DP, PFP and NOW) with eight seats to form a new government (see the article in our edition of this Tuesday, January 16). Silveria Jacobs expressed her concern: “The stability we have brought has not come at any cost. This was necessary after ten years of ‘ship jumping’ and government collapses, and with the latest developments I now feel we are falling back into this situation. Everything is still very fresh, but that’s how it is. We remain optimistic and open to collaboration.” The Prime Minister believes there are many unhappy people now that the two biggest parties have been sidelined from the elections, adding "We'll see how it goes." According to Jacobs, many coalition combinations were possible with last Thursday's results. “In the end, all four parties choose the most vulnerable combination. To me it is incomprehensible that one of these parties claims to have high integrity, but now wants to join another party with clearly corrupt people.” The outgoing Prime Minister is referring here to the Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) party with Christophe Emmanuel and Claudius Buncamper, the latter having been sentenced to 32 months in prison for corruption. Despite the setbacks, Jacobs remains optimistic about the future and his role in politics. “At the end of the day, we are the biggest party with the most seats. If we remain in opposition, we will do our best to maintain the representation of Sint Maarten at the highest possible level,” Jacobs said. And to conclude, “I pray for the inhabitants of Sint Maarten so that this is not the regression that I see. But in my heart I am very, very, very worried.” _VX
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