MP Raeyhon Peterson: True progress requires unpopular decisions and honest self-reflection

GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Raeyhon Peterson, Faction Leader of the Party for Progress (PFP) called for renewed honesty, accountability, and courage in leadership, emphasizing that genuine progress for St. Maarten will demand difficult, and sometimes unpopular, decisions. His remarks were delivered during the solemn sitting of Parliament on Monday, October 13, 2025, marking Constitution Day 2025.

“As we gather here on the floor of Parliament, we must remember the respect we owe to the Constitution. Our people must learn to understand it, and the intention of the legislators who wrote it, and not simply wait for Parliament or Government to invoke it when it is convenient and ignore it when it is not.”

Peterson expressed a personal sense of frustration as someone deeply invested in St. Maarten’s future. “Today, I feel some frustration as someone who was not born here but born to be here, like some of my colleagues,” he said. “Frustration because I see, as many must, the potential of St. Maarten. But that potential is weighed against 15 years where a lot has happened, and still not much has happened.”

He pointed to clear contradictions in the nation’s development. “We have seen our high-rises go up and our literacy rate go down,” he observed. “We have been told that the economy has improved, but we have seen a considerable shrinkage in our middle class.”

Peterson stressed that this stagnation is not only the fault of governments and parliaments over the years but also a broader societal issue. “There has been stagnation at many levels,” he said. “Persons who did not comprehend the choice they made in the 2000 referendum were not prepared or encouraged to make the total mental shift required to lead from 10/10/10 and after. So what happened before continues to happen today, and we are often left playing catch-up to the rest of the region.”

Despite this, Peterson made clear that meaningful change is possible, but only if leaders and citizens are willing to make hard choices. “Changing the status quo is possible, but that requires serious and unpopular decisions to be made, both here in Parliament and across the road,” he said, referring to the Government Building. “Decisions that may not find favor with the public or with our colleagues, both within and outside of party lines.”

He challenged his fellow lawmakers directly: “Are we ready for that? To acknowledge that this role we hold today is not meant to be forever? That we are public servants, and to serve the public means our own interests, our families’ interests, and for those who have them, their benefactors’ interests, come second, third, and fourth to the nation’s?”

He underscored that the willingness to make such sacrifices is the true test of leadership. “That is an unpopular decision, and it might mean a lower vote count, but it would still be the right decision for the country,” Peterson said. “Are we ready for that? Because if we are, then a path to true progress is ours to take.”

And if leaders are not ready, Peterson said, they should not take comfort in inaction. “I’m not worried, Madam Chair,” he continued. “A generation of young people, and those coming after them, who are already growing increasingly critical of decisions taken, both past and current, will ensure that those on the wrong side of history will be held accountable.”

He reminded the Parliament that 15 years is a milestone in many cultures, and therefore an important moment not only for commemoration but for self-examination. “While we look behind us to measure how far we’ve come, let’s not forget to assess how far we have left to travel before we can actually say that we can stand on our own,” he said.

“Once we do that honestly and openly, the next 15 years should be filled with focus and intentional action on the part of every single person who calls St. Maarten home,” he said. “Self-reflection, integrity, and accountability, once we reach there, then we can truly call ourselves the Friendly Island.”

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