It took a while, but with the signing of a coalition agreement (see Friday paper) between United Democrats (UD) and St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) there is at least a minimal majority of eight members in the recently installed 15-seat legislature to support a new government. What the latter will look like in terms of dividing between these two governing partners the seven ministries and other public functions, as well as who will occupy them, remains to be seen.
Based on their number of seats each, six cabinet members for UD and one for SMCP seems logical, while the larger party is likely to also get the President of Parliament and the Plenipotentiary Minister in The Hague. However, things could always turn out differently in political negotiations.
It will be interesting to see who end up being in the next Council of Ministers. Part of the current team backed by the former UP/DP/Brownbill coalition (now all UD) might even be kept on.
The fact that no Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister was appointed and this task is being handled on an interim basis by the Minister of Justice makes such a scenario more probable. Depending on which portfolio SMCP ultimately gets, it may indeed be worth considering retaining some cabinet members already working on crucial issues such as recovery assistance projects and public finances, including the 2018 budget.
It’s obviously very important that these matters are dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible, so starting all over from scratch is hardly an option.
