Philipsburg:--- Leader of the Concordia People's Alliance Jeffry Richardson is moving to court to force the main voting bureau to add a candidate to the CPA list which was submitted on Wednesday. Richardson in an interview with SMN News said that he approached the prosecutor's office on Friday but they were not willing to intervene and as such he is moving towards the court of first instance for justice.Richardson said one of his candidates, Leo Richardson whom he introduced to the media on Sunday last registered at the census office on July 16th so that he can contest the September 17 elections, while registration for the elections closed off on August 8. However, on Tuesday the CPA leader said he was informed by the head of the main voting bureau that there is no record of Leo Richardson at the census office. He said on Wednesday he returned to the census office with his candidate and the stamped receipt given to him when he registered on July 16th to show that Leo Richardson did submit his registration. Richardson said despite providing the necessary proof to the census office he was informed that the file could not be found and that Leo Richardson would not be able to contest the election. Richardson said he spent most of the day at the census office on Wednesday hoping that they would have been able to find his candidate file but that did not happen which forced him to present his list to the chairman of the main voting bureau with one candidate. "On Thursday when I returned to the census office to get the necessary signatures to qualify the CPA for the September 17 elections I asked about the Leo Richardson file and I was informed by the department that the file was found but unfortunately the candidate still cannot be added to the CPA's list because the registration period is officially over."
Asked if he wrote a letter to the chairman of the main voting bureau to inform him of his predicament the CPA leader said he did not write the chairman and he is waiting to see what decision the chairman will take by Monday when all the lists that were presented are finalized. "I am not going to blame anyone at any department but I will ensure that whatever happened with the file will come out because my party and supporters will be going after the truth." Jeffry Richardson said it's a pity that Leo Richardson did not get to run on the CPA slate since he is competent. "We are going to do all in our power if it means going to court to remedy the situation."
SMN News learnt that while Leo Richardson registered on July 16th he was required to submit other documents to the census office so that they could complete his registration. The source said that Richardson was born in Aruba and he has to submit proof that Aruba was his last known address prior to him being registered on St. Maarten. The law states that anyone who was born on Aruba before January 1 1986 has to have a permit to register.
The source added that Richardson has been living on St. Maarten for over a year now and he never registered himself on the island. Furthermore, Jeffry Richardson and Leo Richardson could have gone to court on August 11 to utilize his rights to register and to contest the September 17 election. The source further explained that only one person residing on St. Maarten utilized that right even though the census office made several publications urging residents and citizens to verify and to make the necessary changes to their address prior to the election. "Right now no judge could do anything for Leo Richardson he is the one who did not do what was necessary to make sure he is registered. It does not mean that because he holds a Dutch passport he can live and register on St. Maarten without following the necessary procedures."
SMN News also learnt that the census office is faced with a severe backlog due to the current Brooks Tower Registration. Normally persons registering at the census office are told that their documents would be ready within two weeks after they were registered but now it takes over a month to complete the process.
Richardson said the people of St. Maarten have ensured that the CPA gets in the race because he already knows that the CPA has 146 signatures before he left the census office on Thursday evening. Richardson expressed gratitude towards those persons who signed for the CPA which validated them for the election. "For us this is our first victory which was to be able to present a list on Wednesday despite the hurdles, and to have the required amount of signatures." Richardson said he will do whatever is in his power to make sure that St. Maarteners are not excluded in the development of the new country.
Ever since Jeffry Richardson announced that he was going to contest the September 17 election under the CPA it was clear that Richardson is fighting his battle alone and that members of his family was not supporting him. Asked if the lack of support from his love ones and relatives is affecting him Richardson said he is not affected since God is with him. "God is first in my life and everyone else is after, in the bible it is written that when your mother and father forsake you it is then God will pick you up and take you where you are going and this is what I am holding on to. My major hurdle was to be able to postulate on Wednesday and to get the signatures on Thursday." "I also want to say that I love my family very much despite what they have done, it is also their prerogative and my brother's prerogative to vote for whoever they want to vote for but one thing for sure is that we will remain brothers and loyal to each other."
Asked if his family is worried about him and is concerned about his inconsistencies knowing that he ran with the Democratic Party in January 2010 despite the fact he was evicted from his job when he ran some years ago against his former boss Roy Marlin. "I think my family is concerned about me and that is their right, however, I must say I am 45-years old and must be able to pursue my dreams with the help of GOD and I will do whatever it takes to follow my dreams because everyone must follow their dreams. Even if I fail I will get back up, because failure is when someone fall and they refuse to get back up" Richardson said he is urging everyone whether or not they are from St. Maarten to follow their dreams, because that is the only way they will know what God has in store for them.
