~ Urges Public to Remain Aware and Be Critical of Agitators ~
PHILIPSBURG – In a joint statement issued Wednesday evening, the eight MP-elects of the announced 4-party coalition consisting of the URSM, DP, PFP and N.O.W. parties denounced repeated attempts to distract the public from ongoing political discussions.
“We remain committed and focused on continuing the formation of this coalition,” the statement reads. “That is where the concentration of all elected persons and the general public should be: preparing to work together for the improvement and advancement of those who call St. Maarten home.”
The four parties provided the statement in response to what they call baseless concerns brought up in the media by both politicians and private citizens. They also took aim at threats being issued to their members, via direct and indirect WhatsApp and social media messages.
“We have previously not directly addressed the statements being made by the political agitator,” the statement said. “This will be the one and only time that we do acknowledge and address them and only to say: we do not support any threats of physical or mental harm to anyone in our community, whether these threats are made to politicians or regular citizens. We view these tantrums as attempts to incite violence in and towards our society and this should not be tolerated nor encouraged. We urge the public to be aware of their rights regarding harassment and we confirm that should these threats continue, there will be steps taken via the proper authorities.”
Regarding ‘concerns’ and ‘worried’ remarks issued in the media by some members of the outgoing coalition, the statement continued: “It’s unfortunate that the concept of four parties collaborating for the progress of St. Maarten is suddenly so alien, especially to those who are coming from the outgoing coalition. They are, in fact, a four-party union comprising of the National Alliance, the UPP, independent member of Parliament Arrindell and MP Brownbill, who never actually declared his independence from the USP and so still represents them, politically.”
“The difference here is that the URSM, DP, PFP and N.O.W. parties are working diligently to outline their arrangement in a governing accord that will be shared with the people. To date, the outgoing four-party coalition has not been transparent in sharing an updated agreement with the people, after adding their two single-member factions.”
“There is more than enough to discuss regarding the direction our country is heading in,” the statement concluded. “The URSM, DP, PFP and N.O.W. remain committed to the task ahead and we remain committed to the public. Detractors of this coalition arrangement have shown they will stoop to new lows to cause confusion and chaos, when what the country needs is calm and cooperation. Stability cannot only be important when THEY are in the governing role. We, as those who have come together to form the next government, have chosen to ignore the noise and temper tantrums to focus on the work in favor of the country and all its inhabitants. We ask that all others do the same.”
Source: Press Release
