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style="text-align: center;">Emphasizes Social Cohesion as a Core Value

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Democratic Party of St. Maarten released its National Platform on Nation Building on Wednesday, highlighting the DP's accomplishments and vision for developing the nation and national identity of St. Maarten. The platform states that the common thread through its manifesto is the concept of nation building; building a strong nation and a strong national identity; "The 'Red Thread' throughout this manifesto is nation building Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of the Democratic Party announced loud and clear on Tuesday at a press conference that they have not signed any pre-election agreement with the United Peoples Party. The DP leader Sarah Wescot Williams distanced herself and her party from the banner that is being circulated via the social media Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Electoral Council would like to remind all political parties contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections that in accordance with the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties they are required to timely make their manifestos public. The Electoral Council is of the opinion that all manifestos should be available for the public, with less than two weeks remaining for the Elections of 2014.
The Electoral Council has thus far received the mani Read more

style="text-align: center;">"Come out to hear the real issues"

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Democratic Party of St. Maarten is inviting the residents of Sucker Garden, Middle Region, the At. Th. Illidge Road, Guana Bay and surrounding areas to come out to its public meeting this Friday, August 22nd starting at seven pm at the Miguel Arrindell property in Sucker Garden. The Board, membership and candidates invite the public to come out to listen to the red thread and hear what the DP plans for its vision bringing St Read more

Workgroup to iron out details of Kingdom dispute committee

PHILIPSBURG--A workgroup will be established by the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten to outline how they envision the establishment and functioning of an independent Kingdom dispute committee/institution to which the countries in the kingdom can seek advice on kingdom laws or instructions they perceive as an infringement on their autonomy.

The dispute committee is at present likened to a Constitutional Court. The workgroup will outline how the committee will be formulated, how members will be appointed and how it will be funded Read more

Indian Ambassador To Venezuela Visits: Indian Merchants Association Snubs Parliament

St. Maarten – In what appears to be a political move, the Indian Merchants Association (IMA) snubbed the Governor and Members of Parliament, including President Gracita Arrindell, on the first visit of the Indian Ambassador to Venezuela, Smita Purushottam, by not inviting them to an event tonight at the Belair Community Center. According to sources, the only member of the St Read more

Lively Political Debate On Laser 101: Connor (Up) Estimates Gray Economy To Be 50 Percent

St. Maarten – “The government has a debt of 500 million guilders to the Netherlands, and 200 million to creditors. The 2015 budget is expected to be around 465 million. Unemployment is 11.5 percent. It is your first day in office. What will you do?”

This is how moderator Glen Carty started the political debate on radio station Laser 101 on Saturday evening with participants Emil Lee (number 4-candidate Democratic Party), George Pantophlet (number 2-candidate National Alliance), Claret Connor (number 10-candidate United People’s Party) and Harlec Doran (number 6-candidate United Sint Maarten Party).

The lively debate outshone earlier debates on AVS and the political mixer at the St Read more

Public Urged To Attend Dp Public Meeting This Friday At The Miguel Arrindell Property In Sucker Garden Starting At Seven Pm

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Democratic Party of St. Maarten is inviting the residents of Sucker Garden, Middle Region, the At. Th. Illidge Road, Guana Bay and surrounding areas to come out to its public meeting this Friday, August 22nd starting at seven pm at the Miguel Arrindell property in Sucker Garden.

The Board, membership and candidates invite the public to come out to listen to the red thread and hear what the DP plans for its vision bringing St Read more

MPs agree to motion on dispute committee

PHILIPSBURG--The tripartite meeting of Members of the Parliaments (MPs) of St. Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao to discuss a uniform stance on the installation of the kingdom dispute committee had a bit of a rocky start in St. Maarten Monday afternoon, but by early night the delegations had a draft motion worded the way they desired.

The motion and other related statements from the meeting are set to be signed at Parliament House this morning. More information about the content will be made public at that time Read more

Political Parties Reminded To Publish Their Manifestos

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Electoral Council would like to remind all political parties contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections that in accordance with the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties they are required to timely make their manifestos public.

The Electoral Council is of the opinion that all manifestos should be available for the public, with less than two weeks remaining for the Elections of 2014.

The Electoral Council has thus f Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- With the date of St. Maarten's parliamentary elections drawing near, several female candidates contesting the elections will be engaged in the Phenomenal Women Political Debate on August 20, 2014. This major event, presented by the University of St. Martin (USM) in collaboration with the "Woman 2 Woman, Phenomenal Women" radio program, will be held at the University of St. Martin lecture hall from 6:00-9:00 pm, and promises to be a night filled with lively discussions from the female perspective.
To ensure the objectivity of this Debate, two phenomenal women were invited to participate as moderators Read more

Number two candidates debate country matters

BELAIR--Coalition, government's essential duty to the people, reducing the country's debts, immigration and other topics were dealt with by the number two candidates on the slates of five parties contesting the August 29 Parliamentary Elections at the second Arts Video Studio (AVS) political debate in Belair Community Centre on Sunday evening.

Participating in the debate were Leona Marlin-Romeo (United St Read more

Phenomenal Women Political Debate Moderators

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – With the date of St. Maarten's parliamentary elections drawing near, several female candidates contesting the elections will be engaged in the Phenomenal Women Political Debate on August 20, 2014.

This major event, presented by the University of St. Martin (USM) in collaboration with the "Woman 2 Woman, Phenomenal Women" radio program, will be held at the University of St. Martin lecture hall from 6:00-9:00 pm, and promises to be a night filled with lively discussions from the female perspective.

To ensure the objectivity of this Debate, two phenomenal women were invited to participate as moderators Read more

style="text-align: center;">Supports Abolishing of Turn Over Tax

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Democratic Party on Thursday highlighted its Fiscal Policy as part of its 2014 Party Platform for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections. The Party Platform highlights the simplification and harmonizing of the tax system and the preference for indirect taxation, which would include the abolishing of the Turn over Tax in Favor of a Value Added Tax; "The DP believes that political parties should present their vision to the electorate Read more

Dennis updates MPs about tackling crime

PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Dennis Richardson gave Members of Parliament (MPs) updates on the Police's efforts to tackle crime in the community at a Central Committee meeting of Parliament on Monday. The meeting was scheduled to take place last week, but was postponed until yesterday, due to a lack of quorum.

Richardson said the country's crime levels are at a place where other countries in the immediate surrounding will be "jealous of." The police force has been tackling preventable crimes and have been making arrests and getting breaks in large cases Read more

Voting In Today Election Poll Now Open – Send A Free Text Message To Vote

St. Maarten – Starting today, Chippie-users will begin to receive text messages for Today’s election poll. Chippie-users will be able to express their political preference for the August 29 elections via a free text message. Today has once again chosen UTS as its partner for this project because the company has the largest mobile customer base in St. Maarten.
UTS makes the poll technically possible by putting its network at our disposal. The company will start today sending our text messages to thousands of Chippie-customers Read more

Dp Removed Campaign Material In Belvedere, But: Roundabout Billboards Remain An Issue

St. Maarten – The police had to intervene and in the end, the Democratic Party yielded and took down its oversized political billboard at the Belvedere roundabout on Friday. Chief Commissioner Peter de Witte said that officers had checked the situation on Thursday and concluded that the billboard stood – as was obvious to everyone except the Democratic Party – on the roundabout.

On Wednesday, party-leader and Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams still declared that the situation did not fall within the description of a roundabout Read more

Youth empowerment: Innovation

Dear Editor,

St. Maarten, under the leadership of the Democratic Party, is working rigorously towards creating a society where people of different cultures and religions can live together with mutual trust. To build a civilized society based on similar norms and employment opportunities it is essential to create a platform for integration and personal development.

Based on the diversity of cultures and nationalities that exist, St Read more

‘There was no military threat by Venezuela’

THE HAGUE--The proximity of Venezuelan warships to Aruba and Curaçao territorial waters did not constitute a military threat, according to Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans.

The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard on July 27 signalled Venezuelan navy ships in front of the coast of Aruba and Curaçao, outside the islands' territorial waters, stated Timmermans in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament earlier this week.

Timmermans clarified in his response to written questions by Members of the Second Chamber Wassila Hachchi and Sjoerd Sjoerdsma of the Democratic Party D66 that the Venezuelan ships were "in transit" from Maracaibo to their home base Porte Cabello Read more

Cadastre still to be moved to VROMI

PHILIPSBURG--The Cadastre (Kadaster in Dutch) and Mortgage Registry still legally falls under the Ministry of Finance, while the practical responsibility is that of the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI.

A report submitted by Ombudsman Nilda Arduin about the operations of the Cadastre was before Parliament in a Central Committee meeting on Friday. However, after Members of Parliament asked questions, President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell suspended the meeting until further notice to give VROMI Minister Maurice Lake time to get the go ahead from the Council of Ministers to discuss the Cadastre and its work Read more

No automatic granting of island’s preference

THE HAGUE--The wish of a government within the Dutch Kingdom to appoint a representative of its choice in the Council of State for the Kingdom (Raad van State voor het Koninkrijk) isn’t automatically honoured.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated this on Thursday in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament in response to written questions submitted by Members of the Second Chamber Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic Party D66 and Madeleine van Toorenburg of the Christian Democratic Party CDA.

Hachchi and Van Toorenburg sought clarification from the minister following a publication in the Dutch regional PZC newspaper of July 17 this year Read more

Leonard wants answers on Winair owing US $1.4M

PHILIPSBURG--United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament Johan Leonard has written to Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party) seeking information about Windward Islands Airways International Winair possibly owing a Guadeloupe company some US $1.4 million for the wet leasing of an ATR aircraft.

“If Winair owes this amount, Parliament needs to know how Winair will pay this,” said Leonard who wrote to Wescot-Williams in her capacity as shareholder’s representative for Winair Read more

"Woman 2 Woman, Phenomenal Women" To Hold Political Debate At Usm

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The University of St. Martin (USM) and the "Woman 2 Woman, Phenomenal Women" program have partnered to present the first 'Phenomenal Women Political Debate' on Wednesday August 20th, 2014 at the USM Lecture Hall, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

This exclusive event will consist of ten female debate panelists, two from each political party contesting St. Maarten's 2014 Parliamentary Elections.

The candidates chosen by their respective political parties and confirmed to participate are:
• Richelda Rodriquez Emmanuel and Mulrose Toulon (Democratic Party)
• Silveria Jacobs and Dorothy Richardson (National Alliance)
• Regina Janga and Marie-Lou Conner (One St Read more

Dp Presents Party Platform On Labor And Human Resources

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - On Thursday the Democratic Party of St. Maarten presented its Party Platform on Labor and Human Resources vision as part of the DP Party Platform.

The vision highlights the party's commitment to ensuring social dialogue and commitment in ensuring that the country's labor force and human resources continues to grow; "The DP will continue its approach of social dialogue on matters related to labor, allowing workers and employers to contribute to the process.

There is a general consensus on more flexibility in the labor market; the need for adaptation of the dismissal law; control on compliance; and unemployment benefits Read more