Emmanuel does not sign NA-UP coalition agreement
PHILIPSBURG – Hardly two days after the elections, winner National Alliance (NA) has signed a rather surprising coalition agreement with the United People’s party (UP). In the new government, the NA has five ministers, the UP two.
Together, the two parties have ten seats in the new parliament, a seemingly solid majority. But there are indications that NA-MP Christophe Emmanuel is not happy with his party’s choice for the UP; he did not sign the coalition agreement.
Reportedly, Emmanuel would have preferred a coalition with the United St. Maarten party (USp) to work together with MP-elect Claudius Buncamper on his preferred solution for the dump and a waste-to-energy facility.
The National Alliance gets the following ministerial posts: Prime Minister/minister of General Affairs, Finance, Justice, VROMI and Education. The UP gets Tourism and Economic Affairs (TEATT) and Public Health, Social Affairs & Labor (VSA).
The National Alliance furthermore has claimed the positions of Minister Plenipotentiary, Deputy Prime Minister, Vice Chair and Second Vice Chair of Parliament. The UP gets the Chair of Parliament and the Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary.
It is for the moment unclear who will take up positions in the new Council of Ministers. NA-leader and interim Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs will have to decide what she wants to do next: continue as prime minister or return to parliament. The NA reportedly wants to bring back Roland Duncan as minister of Justice, a post currently held by Egbert Jurendy Doran, who happens to have won more votes than his party leader (843 versus 753). Word on the street is that Doran is also a serious candidate for the top job. What he will do if he is forced to return to parliament is anybody’s guess.
If Ardwell Irion keeps his post as minister of Finance and Silveria Jacobs also becomes a part of the new Council of Ministers it opens up two slots for NA-candidates that initially did not get enough votes for a seat in parliament. Next in line behind the already elected NA-candidates are Anna Richardson (178 votes) and Angelique Roumou (169 votes).
If any of the four MPs-elect of the UP move into the Council of ministers, the next candidates in line to enter parliament are Ludmila de Weever (267 votes) and Luc Mercelina (248). If Mercelina becomes the next minister of public health, which seems a logical choice, the next candidate behind him is Kevin Maingrette (135 votes).
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