Agenda Includes Election of a new Party Board
The Leader of the Democratic Party and Prime Minister of St. Maarten, the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams announced last Tuesday that the Democratic Party of St. Maarten will be holding a General Membership Meeting on Saturday, the 12th of April at the Belair Community Center in Cay Hill.
The membership meeting will start at five in the afternoon and the main purpose is the election of a new board by the voting delegates of the Party.
The leader of the Democratic Party again emphasized that the focus of the Democratic Party of St. Maarten in taking part in the 2014 Parliamentary election will be on quality representation rather than on quantity presentation. "Common goals and one vision, committed persons rather than boasting about numbers".
The leader of the DP can confidently make this statement as her entire tenure, better yet, her entire career has been built on this premise, namely putting service to country above self.
During a recent press conference, when asked, the Prime Minister reiterated this point: "Let me put it as clearly and as concisely as possible: the Democratic Party will not be ‘breaking its neck’ just to put forward a full a list of candidates, something which other parties are doing with individuals, some of whom, sad to say, place their own interest above that of the people.
The focus of the Democratic Party, going forward will be on persons who want to contribute to the process of seeking to be elected by the people for all of the right reasons. Stability, honesty, openness, integrity, knowledge and realistic hopefulness will be key themes going forward," stated Wescot-Williams.
The leader of the Democratic Party also reiterated that the Party is focused and resolute about moving away from the usual political rhetoric of campaign promises that cannot be fulfilled.
"Where we stand today as a political party and as a country is extremely important, and indeed 2014 is a pivotal year for both party and country. 2014 will mark 60 years of the existence of the Democratic Party of St. Maarten, twenty of which I have been at its helm.
2014 will also see the election for the second Parliament of the country of St. Maarten. The DP is poised to be the first one to move out of the "starting gates" with a clear vision, not only with regard to the election, but also with regard to how we should govern the country that we love dearly.
I want the Democratic Party to remain the party that is in tune with the people all of the time, not just at election time; one, which people will ask to be affiliated with. And for this to become a reality, a lot of serious work needs to be done," continued Sarah Wescot-Williams.
"We have also heard the passionate presentations from the Party’s young people to address the issues which they find important. We will pick up the proposal of the young people and re-establish the Party’s Political Youth Forum, to educate young people about politics and the political system, and also to encourage young people to vote in order to combat the global phenomenon of voters’ apathy," concluded the DP Leader.
Prime Minister Wescot-Williams also stated that for the Democratic Party, partnerships should be about the people, not the person.
The DP will be holding various seminars on political topics including electoral reform, governance, as well as sustainable development and other topics geared towards especially the young guard of the party.
"Saying that you have young people on your list but not educating and informing them of the way forward in the interest of St. Maarten and its people will only result in seeing some of the same irresponsible actions that we have seen within and outside of political parties."