St. Maarten News —Leader of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) Member of Parliament Frans Richardson dismissed jabs against his party as a party for “ship jumpers” by focusing on the fact that the individuals targeted still have lots to contribute to the country. Moreover, he stressed, the judiciary still have not had its final say in any of the cases.
Asked about his party’s concerns about candidates with legal issues on the Lady Grace Morning Show on 102.7fm, Richardson said that the party board carefully looked at all the cases on their merits and was informed of other issues surrounding the cases. The party concluded that it could welcome those candidates into the fold while they seek to resolve their legal issues.
He explained in the case of MP Silvio Matser, vote buying accusations against him has to be proven. “As demonstrated earlier this year on the floor of parliament nobody could definitely say what is vote buying and what isn’t. Unfortunately, we’ve seen that when they can’t prove vote buying, all of a sudden you become part of a criminal organization and so on. This is the sad state of our system. As for his tax issues, every businessman has tax issues that will also be worked out” Richardson said.
Richardson saved his strongest words in defense of former MP Romain Laville. He said the gun charge against the former MP has been blown way out of proportion. “It didn’t even have to be an issue,” Richardson said, adding that he was there when the incident happened and gave a statement to investigators.
Richardson touts USP as party of second chances
