Speculation is rampant about who will be ministers of which ministries.
Initially it was expected that an information and a formation process with respectively an informateur and a formateur would be followed.
Somehow that idea – that was proposed by Melissa Gumbs, party leader of the PFP party – got torpedoed quickly and a coalition was immediately agreed to by the URSM, DP, PFP and SAM after elections. To hell with a (in)formation process. And there went integrity and transparency – long championed by the PFP party – out the window.
Remarkably, one coalition party was quickly abandoned in this rapidly-formed coalition: the NOW party and its present minister of Justice, Lyndon Lewis.
The coalition was so quickly formed that we haven’t even come up with an appropriate name for it yet. So for the sake of a better name, let’s call it Mercelina 2.4. A 2nd Mercelina coalition with 4 parties.
Lyndon Lewis said it beautifully yesterday during the COM press briefing:
“I am the first minister ever – or first politician ever – to get the overwhelming support of the country – to sit in a seat to govern.”
Lewis went on to say:
“After election I don’t see colors. I see a group of people who has the mandate to move this country forward.”
Lewis went from 176 votes in January to 445 votes in the August snap elections, without even spending a dollar – “zero dollars” he indicated with his fingers – because his work spoke for itself, he said.
So who is this group of people that has a clear mandate to be in office in the executive branch besides Lyndon Lewis of the NOW party?
From URSM we have the Doc and Richniel Brug. DP: Grisha Heyliger-Marten and Viren Kotai. PFP: with another overwhelming majority of votes within the party: Ludmila De Weever, affectionately called “Ludi” by her family, friends and supporters. In an interview on a radio station Ludi clearly indicated who she saw fit as minister to occupy the ministry of ECYS (Education) assigned as ministry to the PFP by the Mercelina 2.4 coalition besides that of the ministry of VROMI.
The SAM party was awarded the ministry of Justice and party leader Frankie Meyers, with his clear mandate to hold the party’s seat in Parliament and grow the party from that powerbase, will have to find a heavy-weight or a so-called ‘vakminister‘ to be minister of the Justice portfolio assigned to his party. Why not choose Lyndon Lewis, we would ask. But who wants Chris back in Parliament? Not Luc for sure.
With Mercelina being PM and Brug (URSM) being minister of VSA; Grisha and Marinka Gumbs (DP) being respectively ministers of TEATT and Finance, the last portfolio to be filled is that of the Ministry of VROMI.
Before we tell you who we prefer to see as minister of VROMI, hear us out with this: the people have spoken and they have spoken loudly and we respect the decision of the people of St. Maarten. Clearly, they did not want NA and UPP back in the seats of power in the executive branch. So, our advice to the NA and the UP parties is to take the backbenches in Parliament with the total of 5 seats amongst themselves and run a good game of opposition while revamping their parties in the meantime, doing some serious introspection why they lost votes and seats in this past snap elections and bring their respective parties into the next election under new leadership, new vision and renewed energy.
Meanwhile, while re-instating the position of Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary and appointing Junior Ministers for some ministries like Tourism, Sports, Energy and Agriculture, the Ministry of VROMI should be given to PFP’s highest votegetter, Ludmila De Weever (see photo below), as a professional manager, who has a clear mandate from the people of St. Maarten to manage this country from a position within the executive branch of government on behalf of the Party for Progress. The voice of the people have spoken and their will is loud and clear. Time to respect the will of the people. Time for professionalism in government. We know that is what a party like the PFP is all about: integrity, transparency and good governance. So do what is right by the people of St. Maarten: appoint Ludi minister of VROMI.
###
Related news:Four parties to form coalitionWinners and losers: an analysis of the August electionsWinners and losers: four top candidates were outvotedOutgoing coalition wins one seat more
###
ADVERTISEMENT
