MP Duncan resigns from NA Party and Declares herself an Independent in Parliament | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – Member of Parliament (MP) Solange Ludmila Duncan has informed the Leader of the National Alliance (NA) Party Prime Minister Hon. Silveria Jacobs in a letter dated June 29, 2022, that she has resigned from the NA.

The letter reads as follows: “In 2018, it was my honor to join the National Alliance as a new candidate under your leadership. It was my honor to join the party whose track records on education, social protections, and labor, I found paramount to the further development of St. Maarten. It was my honor to be a part of the party of the late great Vance James Jr. and Edgar Lynch; the party on which my father also served this country, with honor.

“I acknowledge that it has been an extremely difficult year for this Government, trying to govern during an unprecedented pandemic and while under extreme political pressure. Over the last year however…. I have come to the realization that the party’s general direction and approaches to public sector management, citizen engagement and policy making often conflict with my core values.

“I have proudly served my country as a civil servant for 10 years. I went abroad like so many of our students do, to study, obtain an education that I could utilize and returned home to serve my people.

“Ethical decision making, transparency and good governance are principles that I have always lived and served by. It is the bare minimum that the people of this country deserve especially in these extremely challenging times. And so, after much thought and reflection, I hereby resign as a member of the National Alliance party.

“I would sincerely like to thank the NA for the opportunity afforded to me by you, the board and the members who supported me. Thank you to the NA faction. I will always have love and appreciation for the people who built and supported this party. It was the party I grew up admiring, but a lot has changed.

“I now look forward to serving my country as an independent Member of Parliament with integrity, respect, and honor. Thank you again. Sincerely, S. Ludmila Duncan, MSC.”