PHILIPSBURG–Member of Parliament (MP) Franklin Meyers was selected by his colleagues on Monday to represent St. Maarten as part of a delegation to attend the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City on September 18.
The first day of the high-level General Debate will be Tuesday, September 25.
On Monday, September 24, the UNGA will hold a high-level plenary meeting on global peace which will adopt a political declaration negotiated by member states.
MP Rolando Brison said during Monday’s session that St. Maarten’s participation to be involved with the UN is critical at this juncture.
“St. Maarten finds itself in a very strange and unfortunate situation with the UN, because as a country we are not considered as a non-self-governing territory, yet all the evidence suggests that we are ultimately non-self-governing. We have a governor that does not answer to the people, but primarily to the Dutch.
“We have financial supervision, imposed border control, and situations like with the budget debate where instructions are used as tools to force Parliament into being a rubber stamp. Other islands on the non-self-governing territories list have more rights than we do. This has to be taken seriously in the interest of the freedom and liberties of our people,” stated Brison.
President of Parliament Sarah Wescott Williams said during Monday’s Central Committee of Parliament meeting that the decision to appoint a member had been stalled for a month due to the recess of the body.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79539-mp-meyers-to-represent-country-at-un-assembly
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