Says time to move up for the greater good

PHILIPSBURG--Gracita Arrindell stepped down as leader of People's Progressive Alliance (PPA) Thursday after much "soul searching and much strategising" and signed on as a member and number two candidate of United People's (UP) party for the September 17 election.

"By combining resources with others who are also capable of providing the bold leadership needed, St. Maarten's rescue would be assured," Arrindell told the press gathered in Holland House Beach Hotel.

"...It is now time for us to embrace new approaches in order to move forward with our agenda, the people's agenda. It is time to move on and to move up for the greater good and for the betterment of our people of this sweet St. Maarten Land."

UP is headed by "caretaker" Commissioner Theo Heyliger with whom Arrindell had political differences during her term as Island Council member 2003-2007. Arrindell said she had been a "fair opponent" to Heyliger and government in general when decisions and projects were not in favour of the people.

"Stepping down from the leadership of the party I have led and have helped to nurture has not been an easy decision to make, but I stand behind it fully confident in my belief that by stepping down and combining forces in a new endeavour we will be best able to rise to both the existing and new challenges of the trying times ahead," the now UP number two candidate said.

Arrindell said while several factors prompted her decision to team up with UP, "one overarching clear and compelling reason" was that over the last several years, St. Maarten has been "on wobbly legs and in danger of collapsing under the pressure of unenlightened leadership...We all know it, St. Maarten is crying out for help. St. Maarten is yearning for competent and enlightened leadership."

Arrindell, PPA Founder/President Don Hughes, PPA candidates in January 22 Parliamentary Elections Dr. Ruth Douglass and Les Brown also signed their UP membership forms in the presence of UP President Franklin Meyers.

Arrindell called on other PPA members and former candidates to also join UP. PPA and its members have been "undisputable champions" for "transparency, accountability and good governance - issues which will remain dear to us and which we shall continue to pursue relentlessly from within UP party."

Meyers welcomed former PPA members to UP. "We have a long way to go, a short time to get there, but we are going to do what they say can't be done."

He commended them for their "bold and brave step" that "showed a lot of character" and concern for the people of St. Maarten. "St. Maarten is at a cross-road. It is a time we as a people have to believe in each other."

Arrindell's announcement ends speculation that started last year about PPA teaming up with Heyliger, the Democratic Party (DP) of which she is a former member or with the National Alliance (NA), first for January 22 Antillean Parliamentary elections and also for the upcoming polls.

Her announcement about stepping down as PPA leader and de facto disbanding the party was made in the same room in Holland House that seven and a half years ago (January 20, 2003), she had introduced PPA and spoke for the first time as its leader.

PPA had also launched its 2003 campaign on the same occasion with the theme: "It's time for a change."

Arrindell said St. Maarten has changed much since then, but regrettably, St. Maarten has not witnessed the positive change PPA had envisioned.

"Today, I stand before you, disappointed in the quality of governance to which St. Maarten has been subjected. However, I wish to assure you that I stand undaunted and unbowed and even more determined to help engineer the sort of transformational change needed in St. Maarten, as we prepare to embrace the challenges of a new constitutional status," she said.

PPA has contested four elections during its existence. "Given the resources at our disposal, we are very thankful and very grateful for the support we have received. It is clear we need to embrace new approaches, so we may give the people what they need."

"We need to do so if we are to be involved in an integral way in the decision making process, so we may improve lives, generally, but especially improve the quality of lives of the ordinary man and ordinary women of St. Maarten."

She thanked supporters and in particular Hughes, "with a heavy heart and clear conscience" for the confidence placed in her and PPA and said she looks forward to their continued support.

"Together, we have left our indelible mark on the political landscape of St. Maarten. As a small but formidable faction in the Island Council from 2003 to 2007, we have raised the bar. We have been undisputable champions for what is right, what is fair, what is just," she said.

"History has already shown, as in the case with the Government Administration Building, for example, that because we have been hardworking and diligent and always willing to do our homework, if they had paused and listened to us, the current wasteful/expensive fiasco would have been avoided," Arrindell said.

Asked about vote buying, something she is vehemently against, and speculations over the years about Heyliger's possible involvement, Arrindell said, "I have full confidence in UP leader. We have to start with a clean slate if we want to get St. Maarten back on its feet."

Arrindell and Heyliger began their political career with the 55-year-old DP. Arrindell had contested May 21, 1999 Island Council elections as its number eight candidate. She mustered 234 votes as DP's ninth highest vote-getter. In this year's parliamentary election with PPA, she garnered 533 votes.

Heyliger was also on DP slate as the number four candidate. He emerged as the highest vote-getter with 1,465 votes, ahead of NA leader William Marlin (1,140 votes) and DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams (1,125 votes). Marlin and Wescot-Williams are also expected to contest the September 17 elections.