NA, USp and DP Sign Governing Accord --- Rumors must be put to rest
PHILIPSBURG:--- Formation talks between three political parties that obtained seats in the Parliamentary Elections that were held on Friday are continuing. Early Saturday morning shortly after the election results were announced the leaders of the United St. Maarten People's Party, the National Alliance and the Democratic Party signed an agreement to work together to form the next Government of St. Maarten.
SMN News learnt that the leaders of the three parties and their advisors met on Sunday afternoon to continue discussions on the sharing of portfolios and other matters.
A source close to the Democratic Party told SMN News that some candidates on the UPP list have been sending messages asking them to abandon the agreement they have with the National Alliance and the United St. Maarten Party and to start discussions with them.
The source said that several phone calls were also made to Andy Wescot urging him to convince his mother to join the UPP to form the government but so far the UPP has not made any progress in convincing the DP or the USp to break the decision they took Saturday morning.
The UPP received seven of the 15 seats in Friday's Parliamentary Elections, the National Alliance got four seats while the USp and DP got two seats respectively.
The National Alliance (NA) United Peoples Party (USp) and the Democratic Party (DP) signed a governing accord late Sunday night. Member of Parliament Roy Marlin said he sent out the document early Monday morning to put all rumors to rest. All day Sunday several persons were saying that the leader of the USp was busy negotiating with the UPP even though he made a commitment early Saturday morning when the elections results were made known.
Portfolios will be divided as follows:
USp
Ministry of Tourism and Economic Affairs
The Ministry of Finance
Vice Chairman of Parliament
The Democratic Party
The Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Public Health and Labor, and Social Affairs
Chairperson of Parliament
Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Minister of Plenipotentiary
National Alliance
Prime Minister
Ministry of VROMI
Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture
Minister of Plenipotentiary
Second Vice Chairperson of Parliament
The USP will also be responsible for the following government owned companies:
The Harbour Group of Companies
The Princess Juliana International Airport
St. Maarten Port Services
The Democratic Party will be responsible for the following government owned companies:
- St. Maarten Telephone Company and its Group Affiliates
- SLS N.V
- Winair
Natiional Alliance will be responsible for the following government owned Companies:
- GEBE N.V
- UTS N.V
- SABA BANK Resources N.V
Click here to view the Governing Accord signed by NA, DP and USp.
