Philipsburg:--- During Wednesday's Council of Minister's Press Briefing the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams emphasized that the Government of St. Maarten is moving forward on essential items, including the formation of a new Council of Ministers. "It is unfortunate that the Outgoing Minister uses his position as Minister and not once, but three or four times goes live on National Television and Radio to espouse purely political messages without anyone even batting an eye. Do I constantly want to be rehashing these things? Of course not, but without there being some voice of reason we will be continuously involved in an ongoing polemic. Government is moving forward on essential items"
"Yes I wrote to the Governor and we had subsequent correspondences during which my position regarding the dissolution of Parliament had not changed. The letter from the Governor could not and did not change that, so the 'Smoking Gun Letter' as we have come to know it, is exactly that; smoke. That the caretaker Ministers refuse to attend Council of Ministers Meetings because I maintained the position I took from day one is something that they will have to live with and makes it more pressing that we get out of this period as quickly as possible. And that is the instruction that I have received from the Governor.
"I guess until then everything that I write to the Caretaker Ministers will remain on the online blogs, social media sites, radio shows, what have you," lamented the PM.
The Prime Minister confirmed that she has started the process of forming the new Government, including that of vetting the new candidate Ministers, "I have been asked by the Governor to form the next Government and I have started the next process which includes the vetting of the candidate Ministers. I have been asked to report to the Governor no later than June 7th and it is my intention to have the process completed before that time. The Governor has also stated specifically in one of his directives that speedy completion of the process be done in order to give completion to the process needed to establish the 2013 Budget for 2013, and to initiate measures aimed at stabilizing the political process, that is what the Governor is expecting as a priority of the next Cabinet.
"In the meantime I want to move things away from the downward spiral we have been in even if it means biting my lip. How can we ask our people to at least be decent to one another even behind the anonymity of social media or on radio. We need to set the right example and not instigate matter further," emphasized the Prime Minister.
From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister