PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) says the legal battles of Member of Parliament (MP) Chanel Brownbill, a member of the United Democrats (UD), were discussed with its coalition partner “prior to forming the coalition.” Brownbill’s party “will be dealing with this matter from their end.”
SMCP, headed by MP Wycliffe Smith, is of the opinion that “the law must take its course.”
Brownbill was sentenced Tuesday by the Court of First Instance to 18 months, 15 of which were suspended, on three years’ probation, with 240 hours of community service, in the “Emerald” case. He has already filed an appeal against conviction.
SMCP said it “sees no reason to rescind the agreement which was signed in the interest of moving St. Maarten forward in the wake of a devastating hurricane. SMCP is all about offering St. Maarten a lasting and stable Government which the people of this country deserve. We all agree that St. Maarten definitely cannot afford another fall of Government at this point in time.”
The UD/SMCP coalition is busy with its governing programme for the 2018-2020 parliamentary term. Besides the manifestos of both parties, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan as well as other pertinent documents will serve as a basis to prepare the programme, said SMCP.
Key aspects of the governing document will be the physical, social and economic reconstruction of St. Maarten.
The coalition aims to deliver a governing programme that “will be practical, workable, and measurable and that will also set priorities, for the next four years.”
