End It!

The back-and-forth between the Minister of VSA and the Prime Minister has to end. How it ends is not for us to dictate to any political party, coalition partner, minister or Member of Parliament. That is their responsibility. But what is clear, even to the casual observer, is that this situation cannot continue in its current form. It is damaging the government, embarrassing the country and, more importantly, confusing the public on issues that directly affect people’s lives.

The latest example is the noise surrounding general practitioners in St. Maarten. What should have been handled with one clear, responsible and carefully worded government statement has instead become another chapter in an already toxic public dispute.

The Prime Minister made statements in Parliament, and issues a clarification. The Ministry of VSA then issued its own clarification. The result was more confusion, more contradiction and more public concern. In a normal functioning government, especially on a matter as sensitive as healthcare, the public should not be watching two arms of the same government publicly correct each other.

The question of whether family physicians are qualified, registered, recognized under previous policy or authorized under current law is not a political toy. It is not something to be thrown around in a parliamentary fight. These are doctors people trust with their children, their parents, their spouses and themselves. The public deserves clarity, not competing statements from government officials who should be speaking with one voice.

No matter where one stands politically, the language surrounding this entire matter has become too hostile. Every response now sounds like it is carrying baggage from the last fight. Every clarification sounds like a rebuttal. Every statement seems to be written with someone else in mind rather than the people who actually need answers.

The VSA clarification itself proves the point. The statement said: “The Ministry therefore rejects any suggestion by the Prime Minister that only four family physicians in St. Maarten are qualified.” That line may be factually intended to correct the record. But why did it have to be worded that way? Why did it have to place the Ministry as rejecting the Prime Minister? Could the government not have simply said that, after review, the Ministry wishes to clarify that all family physicians currently practicing are legally authorized under the applicable rules and policy pathways?

Of course it could have. But that is where we are now. The atmosphere has become so poisoned that even a clarification on family physicians reads like one side of government pushing back against another side of government. Not a minister. Not a political opponent. The Ministry itself is now being positioned as rejecting a statement by the Prime Minister.

Government cannot function like this. A Council of Ministers is supposed to debate internally, disagree internally, resolve internally and then present the country with a clear position. The public does not expect ministers to agree on everything. That would be unrealistic. But the public is entitled to expect maturity, discipline and basic coordination, especially when the subject is healthcare, public trust and the qualifications of medical professionals.

Instead, St. Maarten is watching public contradiction after public contradiction. Accusations are made. Letters are leaked. Statements are issued. Counter-statements follow. Parliament becomes the stage. Social media becomes the amplifier. The people are left trying to figure out which version of government to believe.

At some point, responsible people in and around this government have to stop pretending that this can simply be patched up with another meeting, another explanation or another carefully worded statement. Objectively, this situation does not look salvageable in its current form. The trust needed for proper collective government has been badly damaged. The public language is too sharp. The contradictions are too frequent. The personal and political undertones are too obvious.

The people are watching a government fight itself while serious national issues pile up. Too much energy is being spent on internal conflict and public damage control. This is not about protecting the Prime Minister. It is not about protecting the Minister of VSA. It is not about protecting any party, faction or coalition agreement. It is about protecting the country from an embarrassing and increasingly harmful period of public dysfunction.

Whatever has to happen, has to happen. If political conversations must be had, have them. If coalition decisions must be made, make them. If apologies are necessary, offer them. If resignations, reshuffling or formal investigations are required, then those with authority must deal with that. But stop dragging the country through a rolling public dispute that gets worse every time someone opens their mouth.

This has to end. Not because one man must win and another must lose. Not because one side must be vindicated and the other side humiliated. It has to end because St. Maarten deserves better than a government that appears to be arguing with itself in public while asking the people to keep trusting the system.

The longer this continues, the worse the language will become. The worse the language becomes, the harder it will be for anyone to walk it back. And the harder it becomes to walk it back, the more damage will be done to the credibility of government as a whole.

For the sake of the country, end it.

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