As has been customary for several elections, the Sint Maarten Christian Council, St. Maarten United Ministerial Foundation and the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church had a collective signing of a code of ethics regarding the behavior of political parties during elections on Tuesday August 16th. All political parties contending this year’s election signed the code of ethics committing to a fair and honorable election. MP Wescot- Williams, Leader of the Democratic Party made it a point to seek an adjournment of the parliamentary meeting, so that she as party leader could be present and personally endorse the code of ethics. She was the only incumbent party leader present.
As the official party leaders’ invitation read, ‘We believe you share with us, the Council, how important it is that we conduct ourselves in a manner befitting the office you seek and as such will make every effort to be present”.
Father Adam of the Sint Maarten Catholic Church stated that by being here means “willingness and commitment to have a free fair, and democratic elections for Sint Maarten. By signing this agreement we show we are on the same page regarding the greater interest of our country.”
In 2014, the Democratic Party signed the same document, and now, we’re signing it again. And the question should be: ” How come?” How come, not half way through the 2014-2018 parliamentary term, we are at it again? What about ethics after an election? The DP and the other parties committing to today’s meeting make up a divide with those showing less commitment to our country’s stability. This country’s political leaders need to commit to values like honesty, transparency and accountability, as we can not afford another four years of instability and egoism. We need to lead our youngsters by example, and that needs to be every day, every hour”, stated MP Wescot-Williams.