PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – On Thursday, December 19, 2019, former MP and former Minister responsible for Education, Culture, Sports, and Youth Affairs, Dr. Rhoda Arrindell, presented to the leader of the United People’s (UP) party, Member of Parliament Rolando Brison, her vision for the road to independence for St. Martin. Arrindell is the number 5 candidate on the UP party slate for the parliamentary election on January 9, 2020 and hopes her vision will be incorporated into the party’s manifesto.
According to Brison, the creation of the party platform has been a team effort, with candidates contributing based on how their causes fit in with the direction of the party. The UP party is certainly in favor of moving toward more autonomy for the island, with independence being the ultimate goal, says Brison.
For her part, Arrindell remains steadfast in her belief that independence is the only status in which the people of St. Martin are able to realize their full potential.
According to Arrindell, “Two constitutional referenda in six years and almost 20 years after the last one, the issue of the constitutional status of St. Martin continues to defy a satisfactory resolution. We have tried all the various options over the years, with the exception of integration into The Netherlands like the BES islands, and now realize that independence is the only way for our people to realize their full potential, and for St. Martin
to take its rightful place among the sovereign nations of the world.
“Independence is a natural progression for a colonized people. As a matter of fact, the first and most important task of any political organization in a colony is to seek political freedom for its people. It is not natural for a people to choose to have another people from another country, another continent, and another culture to be in charge of their destiny, and make decisions that affect their very survival, often without their voluntary consent.”
The proposal to the party also included a number of concrete steps to be taken on the road to independence, among them a referendum, in which the people will be consulted on the matter. More information on the independence proposal is available in the party’s manifesto and the candidate’s website.
