Keep it nice
There has been some concern about the decision not to ban the sale of alcohol on Election Day in St. Maarten. The decision is based on the experience with the last referendum, where voters went to the polls for the first time without the ban.
An election is different than a referendum, of course, but in Curaçao, where they already dropped the ban in last year’s parliament election, also based on the referendum experience, there were no problems to speak of, so they have decided to drop it altogether.
Hopefully the experience here will be the same, although people should remember that being drunk and disorderly in public is still against the law and that the police will act. In general, it is a good idea to go easy on the drinking, because elections can become emotional and combining emotions with excessive alcohol consumption is dangerous.
Speaking of emotions, the campaign is expected to heat up even more in the last few days, while one could safely argue that it is already one of the most hotly contested elections in the island’s political history. While there is certainly nothing against campaigning hard, it is important to maintain respect for each other and to keep things civil and clean in the last few days.
In today’s issue is our election special, where the political leaders are interviewed about their plans and other issues. We encourage our readers to read what is said so they can judge the parties in the race for themselves and make an informed decision, rather than just go by rhetoric, commercials, billboards and other campaign gimmicks.
The Island Councils to be elected in each of the three Windward Islands and the Executive Councils they will appoint will have to prepare the islands for a new constitutional future, with a target date of December 15, 2008.
As a new Parliament for St. Maarten will probably have to be elected by then, the term of office of the next Island Government probably will not be much more than a year, but it will be a crucial year during which much work needs to be done, not just to prepare the island for its country status, but to address some of the more pressing social and environmental issues resulting from its spectacular economic growth, while at the same time safeguarding the tourism economy.
Go out and vote on Friday. It is not just a democratic right for which many have died all over the world, but a civic duty. Just remember that while emotions may run high, we will all wake up together on “The Friendly Island” come April 21.
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