Parliament postpones handling 2019 budget

PHILIPSBURG – At the proposal of MPs Rolando Brison, Christophe Emmanuel and Jurendy Doran parliament postponed handling of the draft 2019 budget on Friday until the first week of July, immediately after the conclusion of the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO).

The three MPs requested the postponement in a letter to the chairlady of parliament, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams and in the meeting Brison repeated the request: “We need more time – two weeks – to review, because this is practically a whole new budget and it has far-reaching effects,” he said.

Wescot-Williams had already voiced her objections against the request in a written response to the letter from Brison, Emmanuel and Doran, saying that the amendments to the budget are clearly outlined in the elucidation and that the current draft is not, as the requesters suggested, almost a whole new budget.

With fourteen members present, parliament voted nevertheless 8 to 6 in favor if the postponement. The opposition got unexpected support from United Democrats MP Luc Mercelina. If Mercelina had toed the party line, the vote would have been tied and in that case the postponement would have been off the table.

In favor voted MPs Silveria Jacobs, William Marlin, Jurendy Doran, Christophe Emmanuel, Ardwell Irion (National Alliance), Frans Richardson and Rolando Brison (United St. Maarten party) and Luc Mercelina (United Democrats). The other UD-MPs – Franklin Meyers, Sidharth Bijlani, Jules James and Sarah Wescot-Williams – as well as St. Maarten Christian Party MP Claude Peterson voted against.

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