PFP records just two written-question letters as National Alliance leads Parliament with 50.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Party for Progress (PFP), which has frequently emphasized accountability, transparency and parliamentary oversight, recorded just two written-question letters to ministers during the 2025–2026 Parliamentary Year, according to Parliament’s official Annual Report.

The result placed PFP second from the bottom among Parliament’s seven factions. Only the Soualiga Action Movement, which recorded no written-question letters, ranked lower.

According to Parliament’s “Questions by Faction” table, the National Alliance led all factions with 50 written-question letters. The Democratic Party followed with 24, the United People’s Party with 23, and the Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement with 15.

Nation Opportunity Wealth recorded six, PFP recorded two, and SAM recorded none.

At the individual level, PFP faction leader MP Raeyhon Peterson recorded one written-question letter, while fellow PFP MP Ludmila de Weever also recorded one.

A Formal Instrument of Oversight

The figures are significant because written questions are one of the formal constitutional tools available to Members of Parliament to scrutinize government and demand information from ministers.

Parliament’s annual report describes written questions as an important mechanism through which MPs obtain information, raise matters of public concern and hold ministers accountable for government actions and policies.

The report also makes clear that its statistics count letters containing written questions—not the total number of questions contained in those letters. A single letter may contain several questions and may be submitted jointly by two or more MPs.

Written-question figures therefore represent one measurable indicator of parliamentary oversight alongside attendance, motions, amendments, legislation and committee participation.

PFP’s Record Under Examination

PFP’s two written-question letters come against the background of the faction’s attendance record.

Peterson recorded 35% attendance at Central Committee sittings—the lowest rate among Parliament’s 15 MPs. The two-member PFP faction also recorded the lowest combined Public and Central Committee attendance rate among the seven factions, at approximately 62.8%.

Attendance and written questions do not measure every aspect of an MP’s performance. MPs may question ministers orally, introduce motions or legislation and perform constituency work outside formal parliamentary meetings.

Nevertheless, Parliament’s own figures provide objective benchmarks the public can use to evaluate how consistently elected representatives use the tools available to them.

For a party that has repeatedly demanded accountability from ministers and other public officials, recording only two written-question letters during an entire parliamentary year raises legitimate questions about how consistently PFP applied that principle through Parliament’s formal oversight system.

With the National Alliance recording 50 faction-attributed written-question letters and PFP recording only two, Parliament’s Annual Report presents a sharp contrast in the documented use of one of the legislature’s principal oversight tools.