PHILIPSBURG--The process to appoint Ministers for the incoming United Democrats/St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) coalition is slowly moving along, with the “majority of information” requested by Governor Eugene Holiday about Minister candidates to be submitted today, Monday, by formateur Member of Parliament and United Democrats leader Theo Heyliger.
“I am still waiting on information from certain candidates,” Heyliger said on Sunday night. “The process has been a slow one, but no one is in a rush. We all want to make sure all documents are in order and there are no hurdles to overcome.”
He declined to reveal the names of the Minister candidates, saying it was better for the screening and other checks to be completed.
“We have seen this process damage so many worthy people who were eager to serve their country. They have been confronted with sometimes ridiculous situations or pulled apart by opinions of those who never served or have a desire to serve this country. Let’s give St. Maarten a fair chance by giving her sons and daughters the right to serve, a right entitled to them in their own country,” Heyliger said.
He commended the caretaker Romeo-Marlin Cabinet for keeping the country running as smoothly as possible under the trying circumstances of hurricane recovery. “St. Maarten needs all of us to do our parts in this painstaking recovery period while face with yet another hurricane season in under two weeks,” he said.
The seven-seat United Democrats signed a coalition agreement with the one-seat SMCP on April 5, some 40 days after the February 26 snap election. The incoming coalition’s governing programme is “nearing completion,” according to Heyliger.
SMCP is headed by retired pastor, now Member of Parliament Wycliffe Smith.
