PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party (DP)) and Deputy Prime Minister Theo Heyliger (United People's (UP) party) have denied that there was any discord over the weekend in the UP/DP/Patrick Illidge coalition.
However, the two leaders confirmed on Wednesday that Members of Parliament (MPs) of their parties had been approached by the opposition National Alliance (NA) in an attempt to reach a bipartisan agreement on motions NA intended to present in Parliament on Monday, February 13. The motions were related to the validity of UP MP Jules James' vote on an NA motion tabled on November 17, 2011.
"A lot of discussions took place" over the weekend, but "none had to do with discord in the coalition," Wescot-Williams told the weekly live Council of Ministers press briefing. Members of Parliament "in their good right" explored whether there could be an across-party-lines position on the motions before Monday's discussions, she added.
Heyliger, who arrived after the official close of the weekly press briefing and spoke with members of the media, also was confronted with the question about possible discord in the coalition. He said that while he personally had not had any talks with the opposition, some UP MPs had been asked to look at the motions to see whether they would receive their support.
As for alleged attempts to form a new government, the Prime Minister said that politically speaking, if she were in opposition and had gathered people from the government to discuss a matter such as the motion, she possibly would have tried to manoeuvre the opposition into government.
However, she said the talks over the weekend had not been about forming a new government or based on discord in the coalition, but about NA seeking support for its motions.
The motions were voted down by the coalition when tabled in Parliament on Monday. NA leader MP William Marlin had said in the meeting that during a meeting with NA on Saturday some coalition MPs had agreed to support the motions, but the voting showed that the "coalition is back in line and the ducks have been lined up."
"It is back to business as usual: not addressing the issue, but playing politics over and above the people of St. Maarten," Marlin said.
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