Self Interest Rules on St. Maarten -- De Weever Declares himself Independent and signed agreement with UPP Wednesday afternoon.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The people of St. Maarten is facing yet another problem with the formation of a government they voted for. While three of the political parties that received the majority votes when combined were busy forming a broad based government which had to be finalized on Wednesday September 24th, 2014, Minister Cornelius de Weever has decided that he will put his own interest and the interest of his families first instead of the people of St. Maarten and the voters that placed their confidence in him. According to confirmed information from the Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams, Minister Cornelius de Weever informed her on Tuesday September 23rd, 2014 that he will no longer give up his seat as a Member of Parliament to take up a seat as a Minister. Minister de Weever had already given in all his documents to the formateur William Marlin who had to deliver those documents to the governor on Wednesday September 24th, 2014.
The formateur William Marlin is facing a real predicament since MP elect Cornelius de Weever decided that he will no longer give up his seat as a Member of Parliament to take on a Ministerial position. SMN News further learnt that when the news broke as a rumor, the formateur tried to make contact with Minister Cornelius de Weever but was unsuccessful.
According to well-placed sources Minister De Weever was advised by his uncle Member of Parliament Petrus Leroy de Weever not to give up his seat in parliament and take up any ministerial position because he will not have anyone in parliament to defend, him. The source said that Cornelius de Weever wants to appoint his aunt Millicent de Weever as Minister of Education. It is not clear how that will be done since the National Alliance has the Education portfolio.
It should be noted that Minister de Weever was also a member of the work group that was tasked to draft the governing program for the period 2014 – 2018. SMN News learnt that Minister de Weever attended three of the working sessions and then stopped claiming he had work to do in his office. SMN News also learnt that Minister de Weever had a disagreement with Michael Ferrier on the counterpart law. The source said that de Weever wanted that law to be part of the governing program which Ferrier protested because the counterpart law is already addressed.
Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams admitted that she received the notification from Minister de Weever and it is true he had issues with the counterpart law which the party was dealing with internally.
While Minister de Weever dispatched his email to the Prime Minister and leader of the Democratic Party on Tuesday he could not be reached by phone ever since then. SMN News further learnt that Minister de Weever was seen Tuesday night with his uncle Member of Parliament Petrus Leroy de Weever and he is scheduled to leave the island sometime Wednesday afternoon.
Furthermore, his office was completely locked on Wednesday since he and his staff did not show up to work.
SMN News further learnt that some Members of Parliament (elect) do not want to have Emil Lee in Parliament since he has high integrity issues on his agenda and campaigned heavily on integrity and transparency. The source said that the move by Cornelius de Weever is to keep Emil Lee out of Parliament while ensuring that a member of his family is a Minister. Another issue raised was the selection the leader of the Democratic Party made for the Minister of Justice. SMN News learnt that the de Weever's is not in favor of Jeroen Veen being Minister of Justice.
On Wednesday Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams confirmed that she did receive notification from Minister de Weever informing her that he will not give up his seat in Parliament. When asked if Minister de Weever is still part of the Democratic Party, Wescot Williams said based on what she knows he is still a member of the Democratic Party and the coalition government that was formed is still intact.
"The only thing that has to happen now is that the Democratic Party has to review who they will appoint as Ministers." However, the formateur had to deliver documents to the Governor's office on Wednesday September 24th, 2014. With the new developments it is highly unlikely that Marlin will visit the governor on Wednesday since he really does not have a government in place with the move made by Minister Cornelius de Weever.
At the Council of Ministers weekly press briefing SMN News asked the Prime Minister if her party still stand strong on what they campaigned on which is integrity and transparency, Wescot Williams said that all the political parties campaigned on the same issue, "integrity" was the key word and definitely the DP will maintain its policy.
Formateur William Marlin called an urgent meeting on Wednesday afternoon with the three leaders namely Sarah Wescot Williams, Frans Richardson and William Marlin to get an idea as to what really is taking place within the Democratic Party. That meeting was held at 2pm.
SMN News was reliably informed that Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams informed Marlin and Richardson that MP elect Cornelius de Weever was not communicating with anyone in the DP party. The source said that two persons were at the home of Cornelius de Weever trying to find out from him what he really wants for St. Maarten. Up to the time this article was updated the talks with Cornelius de Weever was still ongoing.
While it is rumored through BBM news that the UPP and Minister Cornelius de Weever signed a Governing Accord and submitted it to the Governor on Wednesday. SMN News learnt that no such thing was submitted to the Governor on Wednesday. However, well placed sources state that Minister Cornelius de Weever declared himself Independent on Wednesday afternoon and signed an agreement with the United Peoples Party at the PJIAE while on his way out of the island. That agreement it is further understood will be submitted to the Governor on Thursday.
