From left: United Democrats (UD) party stalwarts Perry Geerlings, Stuart Johnson, Sarah Wescot-Williams and Emil Lee during Tuesday afternoon’s press conference at the Parliament Building.
PHILIPSBURG–Without identifying the number of seats the United Democrats (UD) seek to obtain in Thursday’s “snap” election, the party said Tuesday that it seeks to be the “stabilising factor” in the coalition government that has to be formed after the votes have been counted.
Preceding Tuesday evening’s townhall meeting in Simpson Bay and Wednesday evening’s contact meeting for constituents in Cole Bay and Cay Bay, UD’s top candidates party leader Sarah Wescot Williams and former ministers Emil Lee, Stuart Johnson and Perry Geerlings said they were very positive about the UD-party campaign for the January-9 general election and about their interactions with voters in the various districts.
In urging people to make use of their right to vote in Thursday’s election, party leader and UD’s #1 candidate Wescot thanked the population of St. Maarten for their feedback during her party’s campaign.
‘Marathon Continues’
“Going into the various districts has only proven even more to us that there is a lot of work to be done …especially in the social area,” Wescot said. “My slogan “The Marathon Continues” has everything to be done with that,” UD’s party leader said during a press conference at the Parliament Building on Tuesday afternoon.
With her slogan, Wescot is indicating that many policies mentioned in the governing programme 2018-2023 of the former coalition between UD and St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) have become a reality, but that much still remains to be done.
As Wescot and candidate #4 on the UD slate former Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings both underlined, there cannot be a social “safety net,” stimulating the economy and the realisation of other policies, plans and ideas without financial recovery of St. Maarten and reform of the tax system.
‘Cardinal issues’
Among party “successes” mentioned were the Economic Recovery Plan, initiated by former Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Stuart Johnson, who is UD’s candidate #5.
As Wescot indicated, the new hospital and the general health insurance, which were among the main achievements of UD candidate #2 Emil Lee during his stint as Minister of Public Health, Social Affairs and Labour (VSA), were also among UD’s “cardinal issues.”
According to Wescot, her party’s manifesto is about “stability going forward,” as “without stability, government, in our opinion, cannot do its task.”
Another key element in the UD’s manifest are the relations within the Kingdom and more specifically with the Netherlands.
“We continue to believe that the relation between St. Maarten and the Netherlands should be based on mutual respect and should be a business-like and professional relationship, with a solidarity component in it, both ways. The confrontational attitude towards the Netherlands we see with the current coalition is something we disapprove of. It does not help us,” said Wescot.
The UD party leader acknowledged that the process in which the Dutch government has made money available for the recovery of St. Maarten via the Trust Fund and the World Bank needs to be reviewed.
Wescot said that the second tranche of the Trust Fund has already been earmarked to the tune of more than NAf. 270 million. “We want to see those projects rolling out,” she said.
‘Hands in own bosom’
Pertaining to the constitutional future of St. Maarten the UD party leader stated that with having a decade of country status behind us “we should be putting our hands in our own bosoms first …The people of St. Maarten should be heard first. As I said during Monday night’s debate, a constitutional referendum could be put during the next regular election. Why did I say that? Because when you continue with snap elections, we will never be at the point of a constitutional referendum.”
However, the UD is of the opinion that right now there are too many priorities for the government to deal with before putting a lot of energy into preparing the people for a constitutional referendum.
Johnson said that the UD message has resonated among voters. “They agree that the UD being in government as a stabiliser is a very important ingredient in the next government,” Johnson said.
“It doesn’t take a magician to know that we’re going to have a next coalition and who you have in it, the temperament, the character, the drive of the party, its leadership and its members are important to make sure there are no ship-jumpers,” Johnson stated.
According to the UD, the fact that the agreements about airport financing and the construction of a new hospital were not changed by the new coalition show that the UD has been on the right track all along.
In this regard, Geerlings made a plea to stop misinformation and the “all-year-round campaigning that is taking place here in Parliament.”
He said that UD’s message to “stabilise” Country St. Maarten has been very well received. “I’m very happy that the destabilisers are no longer there. Thank you very much that you left and please do your thing in another party. It is nice and quiet and stable in our party,” Geerlings said in reference to former UD-members Luc Mercelina and Chanel Brownbill who caused the fall of the UD/SMCP coalition in September 2019.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/93824-united-democrats-want-to-be-stable-factor-in-government
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