Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--The possible removal of Justice Minister Dennis Richardson by the United St. Maarten Party (USP) will be discussed in a special meeting of the party’s board and advisors in the Parliament Building today, Thursday, at 6:30pm.
USP has been in control of the Justice portfolio since earlier this year, but is yet to place its own minister.
USP leader Member of Parliament (MP) Frans Richardson was none too pleased with the way Minister Richardson carried out the negotiations with the Dutch Kingdom Government that have resulted in Parliament being put on a deadline of June 30 to pass the national ordinance to establish the Integrity Council. The minister is said also to have left out the USP leader from correspondence about the negotiations.
USP has an agreement with coalition partner United People’s (UP) party that Richardson would stay in his post for at least a year. However, USP now wants to move up the timetable for finding Richardson’s replacement after he signed the agreement in The Hague a week ago.
Frans Richardson told The Daily Herald the meeting would focus on the way forward with the minister. While he declined to name the candidate under consideration to replace the Justice Minister, he said, “USP believes in promoting from within its rank.â€
Talk in the community has pointed to Rueben Thompson, a USP candidate in the September 2014 Parliamentary elections and the Justice Minister’s current chef de cabinet, as the possible minister candidate. Thompson joined the Justice Ministry after USP received that portfolio on joining MP Theo Heyliger’s UP-led coalition.
Thompson, an environmental activist, was the one of the highest vote-getters on the USP slate, but did not earn a parliamentary seat. The party’s two seats went to its leader and its number two candidate, now-independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo.
