PHILIPSBURG: — The formateur of the URSM/DP/PFP/NOW coalition, Dr. Luc Mercelina, was faced with a dilemma when according to sources close to the coalition partners that Mercelina had received negative reports about the candidacies of Christopher Emmanuel (ECYS) Grisha Heyliger- Marten, and Raehyon Peterson as Ministers.
SMN News understands that the MPs felt that the best course of action would be to proceed without those Ministers and ask the governor to swear in the 6 others who, despite having some findings, were not as serious according to him. This would mean there would be just 4 Ministers in the Council of Ministers.
It appears that Mercelina, under pressure to ensure that his slim majority can produce Ministers by the March 29th deadline given by the governor, felt that he should move on from those candidate ministers instead of standing his ground for them as key coalition partners since all his of his own URSM proposed Ministers did pass the screening they are Dr. Luc Mercelina, Veronica Webster-Jansen,
Based on the actions of the formateur the NOW leader feels as though the URSM leader seems to be looking out more for himself and his party, rather than looking out for the 4 coalition partners.
It is unclear if the coalition agreed upon this unprecedented move, though considering how difficult it would be to run a government with just 4 Ministers, this may be doubtful. Also considering the reports that Mercelina has not been communicating well with candidate Ministers and instead opting to hide behind some sort of “screening committee”, could this be another play by Mercelina to circumvent his coalition partners?
This is one of the worst starts the country has ever seen to a coalition. Before even being able to government the URSM has been embroiled heavily in controversy, such as nearly half their candidates voicing their displeasure with the URSM leader. It is also reported that negotiations towards a governing accord have also been extremely difficult to find common ground.
Raehyon Peterson has a final conviction for assaulting a police officer which likely played into his failing the screening. Grisha Heyliger Marten's failure may have come as even less of a surprise considering her husband was convicted of one of the biggest government fraud cases and is serving 5 years for this, and it is possible that Grisha Heyliger-Marten herself may be under the microscope of the Public Prosecutor’s Office as well.
For Emmanuel, it is a bit more surprising. While the MP was questioned by the Public Prosecutor in the past, they have still not been granted permission to prosecute the MP as is required by law, and as such he is not formally charged with any crime. A previous attempt by the prosecutor to have Emmanuel prosecuted failed miserably in court some years ago. Emmanuel screening not being pushed forward by the formateur could therefore be more politically motivated than having anything to do with issues that Grisha Heyliger-Marten and Raehyon Peterson face.
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