In the Herald of Thursday, August 19, 2010, candidate #18 on the National Alliance list for the elections of September 17, 2010 says "she made the best choice to join the Alliance".
If her decision was strictly for immediate gratification and personal gain, the DEMOCRATIC PARTY would have to agree with her. If at any time however, the # 18 candidate on the National Alliance slate had even for ONE fleeting moment considered her own future on St. Maarten and that of her children and her children’s’ children, she would have realized what a grave mistake she was making. Allowing herself to be "bought" by the National Alliance is not only shameful; it is also against the law! President of the DP, Michael Ferrier, in a Press Release on Monday, August 23, 2010, revealed the following to the press: He and DP Party Leader, Councilwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams visited de Windt at her home on the L.B. Scott Road on Wednesday, August 11, 2010, to invite her to postulate herself as a candidate on the DP list for the upcoming Island Council election. De Windt eventually accepted and agreed to do so, but not before she insisted to tell Ferrier and Wescot-Williams about her disillusion with NA’s Councilman Frans Richardson whom she had supported and campaigned for in the January 2010 Federal elections. She said she had become disgusted after Richardson had made many promises to her and her followers, but honored very few after the election was won by him and his party. She also explained in great detail how for the 2007 elections she had supported then DP candidate and incumbent Councilman, Louie Laveist. According to her many thousands of dollars were given to her during that particular campaign in 2007 by Laveist to, as she put it: "take care of things for him" for that election. She claimed that all these shady deals did not sit right with her, being someone who "believes in a Lord above". She agreed to meet with us (the DP) to make a fresh start with the DP, the party that according to her "made it possible for her mother to migrate to St. Maarten years ago to make a living, something the matriarch could not do in her own country, the Dominican Republic". This time, she assured Ferrier and Wescot-Williams that she was on board with the DP with no strings attached. She just needed to have the assurance from the DP leadership that all will be done to assure an improvement in the conditions of the most needy amongst her fellow D.R country men and women, once the DP is back in government. And IF immediate help was available from the DP to a few of these persons truly in need, so much the better. Late last week she agreed to meet DP President Ferrier in Philipsburg to have her official DP photograph taken dressed in a dark suit and a bright red blouse. She beamed with pride to be part of the Democratic Party. After the picture taking session she asked how she could stay in touch with the party, seeing that she did not have a cell phone. Ferrier offered to buy her one and stopped in at TELCEL to do so immediately.
On Tuesday August 17th Ms. De Windt called the DP President with the "breaking news" that NA Commissioner Hyacinth Richardson offered her a car and $20,000 for distribution amongst her "constituents", if she would run on the National Alliance list. She said she defiantly refused the offer adding that "she was not for sale". Ferrier thanked her for her stance and show of integrity. That afternoon she again called the DP President, this time to ask him to critique a speech she had prepared in English that she wanted to give at a "Meet & Mingle" get together the DP was hosting for its candidates and their significant others that evening. Ferrier and another DP member listened to her on speakerphone and congratulated her for the obvious effort she put in formulating the speech. Unfortunately that evening she was a "no-show" and all efforts to reach her proved to be futile. The next morning (postulation day) the DP leadership heard on the news that de Windt showed up as candidate # 18 on the NA slate. The Democratic Party now asks, if the offer of a car and $20,000 did not convince de Windt to join the National Alliance, what did? Could it have been more money? A nicer car maybe? In alluding to the above, Democratic Party Leader Wescot-Williams has on Postulation Day already publically stated that it is lamentable that political parties would exploit the hardships of Dutch citizens on St. Maarten for political reasons. DP President Ferrier added that the stories of vote buying with raw cash by bagmen working on behalf of the National Alliance in the January elections were numerous and plentiful. Ferrier considers this practice, if true, a threat to the democratic process in our Country-to-be. He therefore calls on the competent authorities to be vigilant before and during this crucial election scheduled for September 17, 2010 and goes as far as to ask that independent election observers be invited to St. Maarten to monitor this upcoming election. He calls on the office of the Lt. Governor to urgently issue the rules and regulations that need to be adhered to by one and all to allow the voters of St. Maarten their God given right to cast their vote free form all pressure and in a fair and peaceful manner. Ferrier thinks that prohibiting voters from entering the voting booths with a cell phone or other devices that are capable of taking pictures of how the voter has cast his/her vote, will already be a giant step in the right direction. Additionally, according to the DP President, no party paraphernalia and/or party supporters should be allowed within five hundred meters of any of the polling stations, and this should be strictly enforced by the police.
The National Alliance cannot ignore the fact that when an elected Island Council member accepts the position he/she is elected to in any election, he/she must either promise or swear that he/she has accepted nothing from anyone, or promised any one anything to hold the highest public office in the land. The Democratic Party wonders how this will apply to the NA Candidate # 18, if God forbid she gets enough votes to be elected to public office on September 17th.
The Democratic Party
Michael J. Ferrier
President
August 23, 2010