Aline Hanson lashed out at Daniel Gibbs and also Ramona Connor

That’s how the game is played in politics, the opposition criticizes the majority and vice versa. Saint-Martin is no exception. At every Territorial Council session, Daniel Gibbs (Union for Democracy, UD) and President Aline Hanson criticize each other and speak to each other aggressively. The most outspoken remarks always make the audience react.

Even though Daniel Gibbs keeps talking about the majority’s "amateurism", Aline Hanson never forgets to remind him that he was also part of the majority under a different mandate and that his measures were limited. But last Thursday, Aline Hanson didn’t only give a tongue-lashing to "Mr. Gibbs". She also put Ramona Connor, her second vice-president, back in her place.

During the debate on the amendment to the Loi organique, while Aline Hanson had just responded to the UD’s comments, Daniel Gibbs resumed the floor without having asked and obtained it from the president. This kind of behavior is unacceptable for the president. "Mr. Gibbs, don’t interrupt me today", she said. A light brouhaha could then be heard. “Please. Either I preside over this session or I’ll stand up... Either I preside over this session, Ms. Connor, Mr. Gibbs...or you’ll make arrangements... The election campaign is coming soon. In March”, she said. A remark which is rare enough to be mentioned, the president discomfited one of the members of her majority in the middle of a plenary session.

She had already done so once before during the Senate elections in September 2014. Three candidates from the majority were standing (Guillaume Arnell, René-Jean Duret and Alain Gros-Desormeaux) whereas the president was expecting a rally behind Guillaume Arnell who had stood up until then as "the" candidate of the majority.

"Ramona Connor… the election campaign… is coming soon", said Aline Hanson today. Is Ramona Connor nurturing political ambitions? If so, would these ambitions be different from the ones of the current president? Does she have her sights set on the presidency? Indeed, there have been rumors going around for a while. The current second vice-president is said to have joined up with Alain Richardson. She might be number one on the list.

This episode demonstrates a certain tension within the majority. With the next territorial elections coming up, things will get more and more strained, especially since other members of the majority also appear to have projects for March 2017.

However, Aline Hanson refuses to talk about it. She believes that there’s still a lot of work to do before making any decisions.

(Photo: Screen capture by CaniTV).