PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) has issued a call to the National Alliance (NA) and the United People’s (UP) party coalition to table its governing programme to the new Parliament, set to sit as of October 31, “as the first order of business.”
As the coalition partners have a majority of 10 seats in Parliament, they need not be afraid that the governing programme will be rejected by Parliament, the party, led by retired pastor Wycliffe Smith, said in a press statement.
The discussion on the governing programme in Parliament will give parliamentarians and the public better insight as to what Government plans to do in the next four years, said SMCP.
Parliamentarians will be better able to monitor the implementation of the various plans and projects and as such will also be able to hold the government accountable with regard to the execution of the governing programme, said the party which contested an election for the first time in September but fell short of sufficient votes to earn a seat in the legislature.
SMCP said it expects the coalition to ensure the governing programme is widely distributed. “Go back to the people, hold town hall meetings and public meetings so that the people who elected the coalition parties will also get to know, first hand, how these parties intend to govern the country for the next four years.”
Commending the formation of the coalition, SMCP said UP and NA as the two largest vote getters in the September 26 Parliamentary Election, “have shown great political maturity by putting aside their differences for the benefit of the people and the country.”
The people, especially the business community, “are hoping and praying that this coalition will bring about the much needed stability in government,” the party said.
The new coalition is still working on getting its ministers screened.
The results of the September 26 Parliamentary Elections were validated by the Central Voting Bureau on Tuesday afternoon and the new parliamentarians are now receiving their letters of elections to the legislature from the Bureau.
