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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

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

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

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

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, 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

Dp Outlines Role In Coalition Formation Process, Takes A Step Back To Evaluate

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Leader of the Democratic Party (DP) of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams, held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

During the conference the caretaker Prime Minister who also holds the function of President of Parliament, outlined the role that her party played and is playing in the current formation process leading towards a new government for the island led by the UP party and MP Cornelius de Weever.

Formateur MP the Honorable Theo Heyliger who is now not a candidate for Minister, announced that he has submitted the names and dossiers of candidates Ministers to His Excellency the Governor of St Read more

De Weever again seeks retraction from Bosman

THE HAGUE/PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten attorney-at-law Jairo Bloem by letter dated November 10, 2014, has reminded Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party of his demand to retract his "slanderous" statements in relation to his client caretaker Minister Cornelius de Weever.

Mid-October 2014, Bloem sent an open letter to Bosman asking him to do the "honourable thing" and to retract his "erroneous and defaming remarks." On October 1, during the handling of the 2015 draft Kingdom Relations budget in the Second Chamber he stated that De Weever was "simply bought" by United People's Party (UP) Leader Theo Heyliger to join the UP in Parliament as an independent member.

On behalf of his client, Bloem asked Bosman to refrain from making such remarks in the future Read more

Heyliger gets until month end to present final report

HARBOUR VIEW--Formateur of the incoming Cabinet with United People’s (UP) party leader Theo Heyliger has now been given until November 30 by Governor Eugene Holiday to present his final report on the formation process.

Heyliger requested the extension of his deadline at a meeting with Holiday on Wednesday about the formation process.

Heyliger informed the governor about developments surrounding the compilation of the candidates for the posts of prime minister, ministers and minister plenipotentiary Read more

>HARBOUR VIEW:--- On November 5, 2014, His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, had a meeting with Mr. Theo Heyliger, who had been appointed as formateur on October 6th, 2014.
During the meeting, the formateur updated the Governor on the status of the process to form a new government. The formateur informed the Governor on the developments surrounding the compilation of the candidates list for the posts of Prime Minister, Ministers, and Minister Plenipotentiary which is nearing completion.
The formateur requested an extension of his commission to form a new government Read more

Governor Holiday Updated By Formateur Theo Heyliger

HARBOUR VIEW, St. Maarten – On November 5, 2014, His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, had a meeting with Mr. Theo Heyliger, who had been appointed as formateur on October 6th, 2014.

During the meeting, the formateur updated the Governor on the status of the process to form a new government.

The formateur informed the Governor on the developments surrounding the compilation of the candidates list for the posts of Prime Minister, Ministers, and Minister Plenipotentiary which is nearing completion.

The formateur requested an extension of his commission to form a new government.

Governor Holiday as a result extended the commission for Mr Read more

Letter From St. Maarten’S Council Of Ministers To Rutte And Plasterk: No Cooperation With Additional Screening

St. Maarten – The Council of Ministers will not cooperate with the instruction to Governor Holiday to subject candidate-ministers for the new cabinet to additional screening. In a letter, signed by outgoing Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, the council makes this position clear to Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk Read more

No quorum stalls meeting on Intellectual Property Bureau

PHILIPSBURG--Only six Members of Parliament (MPs) were signed in for the plenary session of Parliament to formalise the Intellectual Property Bureau on Wednesday afternoon, two short of the quorum of eight MPs needed for the meeting to start.

The meeting now will have to be reconvened by Chairwoman of Parliament MP Sarah Wescot-Williams within four days (four times 24 hours) as stipulated by Parliament's Rules of Order Read more

Formateur Heyliger: Reports About Gumbs Are Speculative

St. Maarten – Formateur Theo Heyliger has labeled media reports suggesting that Marcel Gumbs could become the next prime minister as speculative. In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, Heyliger noted that he has not completed the names of the candidate ministers for presentation to Governor Drs Read more

Mps Unable To Give Update On Government Formation To Youth Parliament 

St. Maarten – As President of the St. Maarten Youth Parliament, Dwayne Griffith submitted to St. Maarten Parliament a motion, requesting an update on the current situation with government and the steps being taken to establish the new Council of Ministers. However, the MPs present were unable to give any information on the developments to the Youth Parliament, as many were not privy to what was taking place. Members of the Youth Parliament met with Parliament members at the Central Committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss the developments in government formation with regard to the instruction for the screening of candidate-ministers from the Kingdom Council of Ministers in The Hague.

“Our faction cannot provide any insight as to whether a list of ministers has been put forward… neither do we know the standards by which they will be screened,” said MP William Marlin Read more

Gebe And Telecom Providers Meet Wednesday To Discuss Underground Cables

St. Maarten—A meeting is carded for Wednesday between the shareholder representative of Gebe and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry to discuss having all telecommunications and power cables placed underground to avoid power outages as was the case with the recent passing of hurricane Gonzalo that left numerous households without power.

Following the passage of hurricane Gonzalo, minister with responsibilities for Gebe Murice Lake announced his intention to restructure the company and to look into having the cables placed underground Read more

Prominent Lawyer Allegedly Failed Screening due to Molestation Investigation.

style="text-align: center;"> Coalition dispute ongoing

PHILIPSBURG:--- Well placed sources have informed SMN News that a prominent lawyer on St. Maarten has failed the screening process to become a Minister in the UP/DP/ Marlin coalition. SMN News learnt that the candidate is allegedly under investigation for molesting a teenager. According to the information SMN News received a relative of the victim filed charges against the prominent citizen and lawyer on St. Maarten about two months ago Read more