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Heyliger Asks For More Time To Form Government

St. Maarten – UP leader and formateur Theo Heyliger has asked and received more time to submit the final names of his cabinet to form the new government according to a press release from Governor Eugene Holiday.

The formateur originally had a November 30 deadline to submit the final list, but in a meeting with Governor Holiday yesterday, Heyliger made his request for additional time and was granted till December 16 Read more

Heyliger to now present final formation report on Dec. 16

HARBOUR VIEW--The process of searching through the lives of the minister candidates for the new Cabinet with a fine-tooth comb is in “its final stage,” but has not yet been completed. This has led Governor Eugene Holiday to grant formateur of the new Cabinet United People’s (UP) party leader Theo Heyliger a new deadline of December 16 to present his final report.

The screening of minister candidates covers a background review of personal and professional credentials, their financial position, fiscal compliance (tax and social security premiums), a judicial check for possible suspicious transactions, the security background and, if necessary, the health condition of the candidates.

The purpose of the screening is to assess the integrity, independence and solvency of the candidates, as well as the stability of the new government, according to a statement from the Governor’s Cabinet.

Member of Parliament Heyliger met with Holiday on Friday, ahead of his November 23 deadline for his final report, to give his progress report on the screening of the candidates for the posts of prime minister, ministers, minister plenipotentiary and acting minister plenipotentiary.

The current Wescot-Williams III Cabinet has remained in office as a caretaker government since the August 29 Parliamentary Elections.

This is the first time in St Read more

>HARBOUR VIEW:--- On Friday, November 28, 2014, His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, met with and received a progress report from formateur Mr. Theo Heyliger.
During the meeting the formateur updated the Governor on the progress of and deliberated on the required information for the screening of the candidates for the posts of Prime Minister, Ministers, Minister Plenipotentiary and acting Minister Plenipotentiary Read more

Sarah withdraws her support from coalition

PHILIPSBURG--Just over a month after gaining the support of ten Members of Parliament (MPs), the United People's (UP) coalition has lost the support of one partner: Democratic Party (DP) leader MP Sarah Wescot-Williams.

The withdrawal of support for the coalition has been considered a foregone conclusion since earlier this month, after Wescot-Williams announced that her party's minister candidates had been passed over in favour of those submitted by DP parliamentarian Cornelius de Weever to formateur of the new cabinet UP leader Theo Heyliger Read more

DP moves to ‘expel’ De Weever from ranks

PHILIPSBURG--The Democratic Party (DP) has moved to expel Member of Parliament (MP) Cornelius de Weever from its ranks. The party has given De Weever until 5:00pm today, Friday, to appeal his expulsion if he so wishes.

De Weever, who is off-island, has not responded to requests for a comment on what he intends to do in the face of his pending expulsion.

De Weever was informed of his pending expulsion from St Read more

style="text-align: center;">UPP candidates fuming because they got no Ministerial Positions

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the United Peoples Party (UPP) and formateur Theodore Heyliger has shuffled the deck of cards again as he tries to form the next government Read more

style="text-align: center;">DP Expelled MP De Weever from Democratic Party

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams sent an official letter to the leader of the UPP Theodore Heyliger informing him that she has withdrawn her support from his coalition government.
The letter sent to Heyliger is dated November 18th, 2014 Read more

Editorial - Enough is enough

Little more has been heard about the installation of a new government since “formateur” Theodore Heyliger presented a list of proposed ministers to Governor Eugene Holiday on Wednesday, November 12. Twelve days have passed since, during which the “vetting” of candidates began, and some are starting to wonder whether something might be wrong.

Officially the process is being conducted based on the country’s existing judicial and security screening regulations instead of the far-reaching approach with input from the Netherlands instructed by the Kingdom Council of Ministers Read more

Lee calls on ‘opposition’ to form ‘united coalition’

DAWN BEACH--Democratic Party (DP) candidate hotelier Emil Lee has called on the "opposition" in Parliament, which now includes his party leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, to form "a united coalition" to provide "quality opposition in Parliament."

Lee was the 12th highest vote getter out of 90 candidates who contested the August 29 Parliamentary Elections and was the third highest vote getter of his party Read more

Upnext Bake Sale A Sold-Out Affair For Less Fortunate Kids

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - UPNext, the youth movement within the United People party (UP), held a successful fundraising bake sale on Saturday to fund the group's "CheerUp" Christmas program in support of the children homes of St. Maarten and the children housed there.

Dubbed a "BakeUP" and stationed at the Afoo Supermarket in Philipsburg, the youngsters managed to sell all goodies that were up for sale and raised close to $1,000.

The event started at 9:00am and by 1:00pm everything was sold out.

On the bale sale were popular items such as black cake, carrot cake, several tarts, brownies, cookies and much more.

The UPNext teens didn't just stay at the venue, they put goodies on trays and walked through Backstreet and Frontstreet selling baked items to local and visitors alike.

Members of the community who didn't purchase anything simply made financial contributions to the cause for which the teens from UPNext showed their appreciation with loud applause and shouts of thank you.

Minister of Youth Affairs Patricia Lourens also passed by to support the cause while leader of the UP Theo Heyliger provided breakfast for the hard working teens.

President of UPNext Kinisha Kalla thanks everyone for their overwhelming support and reminded that a second bake sale will be held next Saturday, November 22 at the same venue from 9:00am until everything is sold.

This week group will elaborate more on the Christmas CheerUp program and its plans to bring some joy into the lives of the less fortunate children at some of the Children's homes.

UPNext is guided by the members of the PR & Marketing Committee of the UP, Grisha Marten-Heyliger, Alston Lourens and Mike Granger.

The group also thanked the Afoo Group of Companies, Peter J Read more

Editorial - General interest first

The concern expressed by "formateur" Theo Heyliger to NRC Handelsblad (see Friday edition) for an impasse over the appointment of future cabinet members may have diminished somewhat. Part of the reason would be statements by Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk in today's paper in connection with the decision not to issue a new instruction on an integrity action plan for the local law enforcement sector.

When asked about the existing instruction for screening proposed ministers, he said the process was in the hands of Governor Eugene Holiday, who is responsible for such Read more

Sarah tenders her resignation

Parliament Chairwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams caucuses with Parliament Presidium members MPs Cornelius de Weever and Leona Marlin-Romeo on whether she should continue chairing Thursday’s session of Parliament after she submitted her resignation as Parliament head (Rajesh Chintaman photo) Read more

Heyliger says impasse looms

THE HAGUE--St. Maarten’s United People’s Party (UP) Leader Theo Heyliger said in an interview with the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad on Wednesday that an impasse was imminent in the conflict with the Netherlands about the extra screening of the candidate prime minister and ministers Read more

Governor Holiday receives list with candidate ministers. (UPDATED)

>HARBOUR VIEW:--- His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, met with formateur Theo Heyliger to discuss the progress of the formation process. During the meeting the formateur presented the Governor with the names of the candidates for the function of Prime Minister, ministers and the candidate Minister Plenipotentiary Read more

Court Documents Indicate: Theo Heyliger Attempted To Blackmail Tender Services

St. Maarten/ By Hilbert Haar – United People’s party leader Theo Heyliger attempted in 2001 to blackmail the owner of St. Maarten Tender Services, Bobby Velasquez, with a bogus consultancy contract in the name of Coal Pot Inc., an offshore company established in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands Read more

Chairlady of Parliament Wescot Williams Resigns from Parliament effective immediately --- MP Lloyd Richardson heading to become an Independent Member of Parliament.

style="text-align: center;"> Is there still a Government in Place? Where does MP Leona Marlin stand?

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams read her letter of resignation from the position as chairlady of Parliament which she said is effective immediately Read more

No Word From The Up Party On Dp Leader Statement

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Leader of the Democratic Party of St. Maarten, Sarah Wescot Williams has shifted her stance in the current coalition of the UP led government.

The leader of the DP, who currently holds the position of President of Parliament, told journalists during a press conference on Wednesday that she is making her position as President of the legislative body available to the UP Party.

However, Mrs Read more

Theo Heyliger Submits List To Governor

St. Maarten —After weeks of speculation, the biggest vote getter in the 2014 general elections, Formateur and leader of the United Peoples Party Theo Heyliger, confirmed he will not be taking up the position of Prime Minister of St Read more

Sarah makes position as Parliament head available

PHILIPSBURG--President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has made her position as head of the legislature available to the United People's (UP) party-led coalition.

This move by Wescot-Williams comes a month and two days after she was appointed to the post on October 10 Read more

Minister candidates submitted to governor

HARBOUR VIEW--The names of the minister candidates for the new cabinet were submitted to Governor Eugene Holiday by formateur United People's (UP) leader Theo Heyliger on Wednesday. The security and judicial screenings of the candidates for the post of prime minister, the six other ministers and minister plenipotentiary has commenced, according to the governor's cabinet.

Holiday and Heyliger met yesterday to discuss the progress of the formation process Read more

Editorial - Sooner rather than later

Today's report that Dutch Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk prefers cooperation to another instruction for St. Maarten in the area of Justice is a positive development. Coupled with the news that "formateur" Theo Heyliger has submitted the names of proposed ministers for what now appears is the incoming UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo coalition – no longer backed by DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams (see related story) – to Governor Eugene Holiday, it could spell a start in restoring the lately disturbed relations between Philipsburg and The Hague.

This conclusion has a lot to do with the fact that Heyliger did not include himself Read more

style="text-align: center;">Formateur Shuffled the pack again this time appointing Petrus Leroy De Weever as Minister of VSA, the Doc was fooled.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams was fully played by formateur Theodore Heyliger and Democratic Party member Cornelius de Weever Read more

Governor Holiday receives list with candidate ministers.

>HARBOUR VIEW:--- His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, met with formateur Theo Heyliger to discuss the progress of the formation process. During the meeting the formateur presented the Governor with the names of the candidates for the function of Prime Minister, ministers and the candidate Minister Plenipotentiary Read more

Governor Holiday Receives List With Candidate Ministers

HARBOUR VIEW, St. Maarten – On November 12th, 2014, His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, met with formateur Theo Heyliger to discuss the progress of the formation process.

During the meeting the formateur presented the Governor with the names of the candidates for the function of Prime Minister, ministers and the candidate Minister Plenipotentiary.

The process of the vetting of the candidates will start as from now.

As stated before, the Governor requested Mr Read more