PM: "Young persons need to be well informed, guided and mentored into making the right decisions and what is required of them as politicians"
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams highlighted on her weekly radio program that there are responsibilities and obligations for not only the political parties to register but also for candidates who if elected keeping to their programs and ideals: "If anyone is thinking on participating in the election my advice would be to make sure that they understand the requirement and obligations of a candidate.
The particular law outlining this did not exist when there were elections in 2010. Starting with the Democratic Party the candidates who will be running on the list will be getting receiving the necessary information and will be guided and mentored in the process of postulating themselves with a particular goal. We need to have people to make the sacrifices that it takes to together with elected representatives move the country forward. It is not about saying that once elected this and that will happen but it calls for collaboration and cooperation with all stakeholders to move the country forward. It is a duty to guide persons to get into the political process and informed about how Government works, especially young people who are interested in politics. You can have persons who are elected on the strength of political parties and the next day they can switch allegiances. Again I have presented Parliament with options as to how to address this. I am proposing to Parliament that we can make some additions to amend the laws. With regards to the Democratic Party and the Articles of Incorporations and candidates running on the slate of the Democratic Party the process will be transparent and open and we will be letting the population know who will be running and will be letting them profile themselves. Young persons need to be well informed, guided and mentored into making the right decisions and what is required of them as politicians. If there are any other individuals who think like I do in changing the political spectrum I think you might see some interesting political developments between now and the next elections," concluded the Prime Minister.