PHILIPSBURG--Commissioner Theo Heyliger had separate meetings with Democratic Party (DP) leader Sarah Wescot-Williams and People's Progressive Alliance (PPA) leader Gracita Arrindell on Tuesday, according to sources.It is not clear whether Heyliger is wooing the two party leaders or vice versa.
Wescot-Williams and Heyliger met for lunch. His meeting with Arrindell and her team was at Pasanggrahan Royal Guesthouse later in the afternoon.
There has been talk of Heyliger, now an independent Island Councilman and a member of the National Alliance (NA)/Heyliger coalition government, forming his own "green" party since he left DP in June 2009. To date, however, he has not announced any details.
None of the three – Heyliger, Wescot-Williams or Arrindell – could be reached for a comment about Tuesday's meetings.
However, according to DP sources, the meeting between Heyliger and Wescot-Williams was an exploratory one and neither side tabled an offer.
It is not clear whether Heyliger is being wooed back to the DP, which failed to retain its lone seat in Parliament in the January 22 parliamentary election, or whether Heyliger is seeking to return to the DP with his eyes set on taking over the leadership of that party.
Not much is coming out of the Heyliger camp on the back-to-back meetings. There has been much division among Heyliger supporters and those of the DP about whether he should rejoin the party or continue on the path of forming a new party. Some in the community believe he should return to DP with the statement that he would be the (next) party leader, while others who feel strongly about his "abandoning the party" want him to stay out.
With the next island elections possibly in June, it is expected that Heyliger will have to make his position known soon enough. Nomination day is expected to be in April, just about two months away.
Sources close to Arrindell said yesterday's meeting with Heyliger had been a good exploratory discussion. Heyliger and Arrindell had several discussions prior to nomination day last November for the January 22 parliamentary election. PPA was one of three local parties that contested that election.
Arrindell's biggest concern with Heyliger at that time was said to be that he would rejoin the DP, the 55-year-old party co-founded by his grandfather Dr. Claude Wathey.
Arrindell broke ranks with the DP in 2001 and formed PPA, which won a seat in the 2003 Island Council Elections. However, the PPA failed to win a seat in the 2007 elections or in the recent parliamentary elections.
While Heyliger was not a candidate in the recent parliamentary election in which William Marlin's National Alliance won all three seats allotted to St. Maarten, Wescot-Williams was the main vote-getter.
Marlin had asked Heyliger to run for the January 22 Parliamentary Elections on a joint slate, but nothing came of it. Heyliger also did not endorse the NA.
