PHILIPSBURG--Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards has rejected a request from the opposition Democratic Party (DP) for a meeting with him to discuss issues pertaining to the January 22 Parliamentary elections, the role of the Island Council and other matters.
DP leader Island Councilwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams and DP Island Councilman Roy Marlin are taken aback by Richards’ response in which he directed the party to take its complaints/issues to the Island Council and/or to the Executive Council.
Wescot-Williams said Richards’ response was “very much regretted.”
Richards who is chairman of the Island and Executive Councils, as well as of the Main Voting Bureau, said in a letter to Wescot-Williams that after “careful consideration” he could not honour the request for a meeting and the party would be “better served” by contacting the Island Council or the Executive Council for a hearing.
Wescot-Williams told a press conference held in the Parliament Building Tuesday, “More and more the Island Council, the legislative arm of government, is being sidelined” and the request for a meeting with Richards was to obtain a clear indication of what exactly has been happening to the council’s important function.
In addition to the role of the Island Council, the party also wished to discuss several issues pertaining to occurrences on the Parliamentary election day, January 22. Chief among these, Wescot-Williams said, was the closing of some polling stations for the counting of ballots at the end of the voting period.
Party representatives at some polling stations reportedly had problems observing the counting of ballots and had to call the Main Voting Bureau for clarification about whether they could have been allowed to stay on as observers.
Another issue DP said it wanted to discuss was the use of St. Martin’s Home as a polling station. Wescot-Williams said the home was an ideal choice in theory, but not in practice, because voters had to park some distance away and walk to the station.
