I am forwarding you this email, wherein surprisingly, I don't see you included. I like to hear your remarks. Did the SPA not win in 1994/1995 - when you were the president of the SPA- board? Do you share the opinion that the victory of the NA in 2002 was due to The National? Do you believe, that the present NA board should be more 'pro-active', rather than sitting back waiting for incentives or information from the commissioners and other elected officials? After all, effectively, the Board has at its disposal the force of the Party Council. This is a mighty force if properly activated and honed to function accordingly. I refer here, particularly, to the district leaders and their district members. When the Board meets that challenge the elected officials must get in line or else........
This will be the crux of the democratic procedure in action. This action is the only manner, in my mind and experience, to get rid of "Claudism" - the political system that seriously confuses electoral campaigning with proper governance. "Proper governance" of a country, in my opinion, means managing and administrating the country in accordance with the laws of the land (our constitution) and the rules/regulation of public administration. There is a principled difference between business administration (private) and public administration (every body) - because there is a different consequential accountability.
In my view, our (NA) mind-set ought to be as a government leading this island-territory of the Netherlands Antilles towards country status, a legal entity within the Kingdom. However, country status is not only a legal frame work related to the Kingdom, but more importantly, a consciousness of a concept of country that has yet to be realized. If every citizen has to participate, then every citizen ought to be in sync with this concept. So, what is this concept?
Concretely, this concept is predicated upon the constitution which must entail more than the legal frame work of country status. It simply has to be rooted in the history and cultural experience of the people of the island-territory to date as well as it ought to project a preview of what this country is all about. Well, we don't have a constitution which is known to the people of Saint Martin and we don't have a governing program which is known to the people of Saint Martin; and to be sure, there was none, that I know of, previous to this government that was known to the people of Saint Martin.
What is known, though, and what has been brought to the mind of the people of Saint Martin for the first time and since then is the Manifesto of the National Alliance. I submit, for your serious consideration, that this manifesto of which areas are being introduced, be (re)visited and used together with the constitution as the basic information, to inform and sensitize our members and district leaders to the concept of Country Saint Martin. As if this is not daunting enough, you ought to consider as well as where we are in this moment. A moment of putting in place recklessly overdue infra-structure, resources (human as well as material) to establish a tangible basis to support the transfer and management of responsibilities of country Saint Martin. We have newly, some inexperienced, elected officials on both central as well as local levels, having to deal with the severe challenge of it all.
The point here is how do we acquit ourselves of our responsibility in this web of intangibles and maze of ways of approach to urgent preparation of country Saint Martin? Nobody knows with any certainty, since this a historical and political situation unique to our experience here inSaint Martin. Not only as a Party, but also as a people. and yes! It is much more than to us, than it is in Curacao or the Central government. Certainly, we will not be effective in confronting this unique challenge by complaining, by being frustrated due to others behavior who already in the fray of things and having to push themselves to the limit.
My position is, and has always been in these matters, taking pains to finding a way to cooperate with others and coordinate what forces you can find in order to get the job done. If not possible, then step aside and some body else who can get the job done. Of course, I must accept that the lateness of the hour and the established target date of country status is prohibitive of introducing this process of conscientization toward country Saint Martin. Therefore, what is of the greatest urgency in going forward, is the introduction of the Party platform (its manifesto updated to the circumstances) for the purpose of launching our electoral campaign. Due to the urgency of the moment, there is little room for the accommodation of actual opposition within our ranks. We need to be creative rather than divisive. Herein, we have been dreadfully remiss, even in the face of the challenge of leading a coalition government. Let us be very mindful of the fact, that we are the government - not the opposition.
Here's a vital area of the Board's pro active participation in assuring victory in whatever election. I submit this position to the Board for its serious consideration. The critical element in any action, especially in the area of public relations via the media, is MONEY. I agree. 'Money', however, without creativity in its application has proven to be not necessarily effective. I submit, that commitment, dedication, selfless cooperation to the democratically chosen cause (accepting the responsibility of fulfilling the promise of the 2000 referendum to our people) must be our driving force and the launching pad. Money, we can not ignore, is the important facility. The greatness of the challenge, establishing the process of becoming country, that confronts us, demands that we close our ranks.
Our Board, elected by the highest authority of the Party, the NA Congress, comprises many serious and competent people, let us get together to reach the elected officials, its political leader and our constituents - I believe, more effectively, will be the 'bottom-up' approach, our district leaders and their members. A tough assignment? To be sure, yes! Then, again, nobody says, that the task of the Board is an easy one, especially where we presently stand.
The most important responsibility that I submit for the Board's consideration is, to obtain one way or another, the governing program that was proposed since June 2009. We ought not to wait for the approval of the two independent members in our government. This governing program, I must believe, is geared towards preparing for and transition toward our country Saint Martin.
While it would have been tweaked in terms of priorities, in consideration of the independent partners in government, the actual governing program must be ours - where we need to go, what we need to do to get there, based on what we stand for. It is our responsibility to our constituents as well as all the people in Saint Martin to have them properly informed.
This documented platform (NA manifesto based governing program) will inform the Board sufficiently to embark on conscientizing the citizens of Saint Martin. The NA - PRO will then also have sufficient manna to feed our people without having to go to which ever elected official for the necessary information.
That perspective of him/herself/themselves is what you validate through your campaign - that validated perspective which you would have confirmed through his/her/their acceptance of the relevant areas of the NA manifesto is the perception, you need the number, the constituent, the citizen, any body living on the island with which to enter the polling station - and vote for it.
The candidate who can achieve that, the district leaders who can achieve that, the Board that can establish that environment, the political leader who can promote and coordinate that will get the greatest number at the polls, consequently the National Alliance party will win. That's how simple the game of politics is. In fact, it is the game of life where you assume the responsibility, enticed or entrusted to you by fellow human beings as citizens in an environment, we call a island-territory, a country, you pledge to establish for them.
Let's continue to go forward - Together!!
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