MARIGOT, Saint-Martin:--- Outgoing Senator and Territorial Councilor Annick Pétrus-Ferga has announced that she is leaving the RSM-A majority group, saying she learned during recent political developments that a significant part of the group and several of its leaders no longer had confidence in her.
In a statement addressed to the president and her colleagues, Pétrus said she made the decision “with seriousness, but without bitterness.” She described trust as essential to political cooperation and said it must be built over time through loyalty, sincere dialogue, respect and reciprocity.
Pétrus said the loss of confidence surprised her because, until recent weeks, she had continued to work with members of the group on matters affecting Saint-Martin. She pointed to a May 29 meeting at the Ministry for Overseas Territories with the president of the Collectivité, the deputy and the prefect. According to her statement, they discussed Saint-Martin’s legislative powers, the environment, bilingualism, European funding and its status as an outermost region.
She also cited a July 21 meeting with President Louis Mussington and Deputy Frantz Gumbs to advocate for Saint-Martin’s inclusion in a forthcoming national urban renewal programme. Pétrus said she had raised the same issue in the Senate days earlier.
“Our message was shared and simple: Saint-Martin is asking for no privilege,” she said. “Our territory is simply asking to benefit fully from the measures to which its population can legitimately lay claim.”
Pétrus said she did not wish to remain in a political group whose direction and approach to collective action no longer fully matched her own. She said she was leaving out of consistency, without anger or resentment.
Her political commitment to Saint-Martin would continue, she said, although its future form would be decided by time, work and the people of Saint-Martin. She closed her statement by saying that leaving can be a way of remaining faithful to one’s convictions: “When respect is no longer served, one must leave the table.”
