PHILIPSBURG--The Second Parliament of St. Maarten is again, in principle, at its full capacity of fifteen members.

 

The credentials of incoming Members of Parliament Rodolphe Samuel and Hyacinth Richardson of the National Alliance (NA) were accepted in a plenary session of Parliament on Monday afternoon.

 

Samuel and Richardson now will have to take the oath of office before Governor Eugene Holiday. The Governor was informed immediately by Parliament Chairwoman MP Sarah Wescot-Williams about the acceptance of the credentials after the plenary session.

 

Parliament stood at 13 members as of November 19 due to the resignation of then-MPs now Prime Minister William Marlin and Education Minister Silveria Jacobs. Their resignations were in accordance with the Constitution that does not allow the combining of the post of MP and that of Minister.

 

Samuel and Richardson were eligible to become MPs because they were the next highest vote-getters on the NA slate of candidates from the 2014 Parliamentary Elections. Both men had served as MPs in the First Parliament of St. Maarten.

 

The credentials of the incoming MPs were vetted by a committee comprising MPs Dr. Lloyd Richardson (United People’s (UP) party), Leona Marlin-Romeo (independent) and George Pantophlet (NA). The committee was established based on Parliament’s rules.

 

Samuel and Richardson were congratulated by MPs Frans Richardson (United St. Maarten Party), Franklin Meyers (UP), Marlin-Romeo, Pantophlet and Christophe Emmanuel (NA).

 

The change in the membership of Parliament is the last transformation in the political shift caused by the Coalition of Eight. The shift started with the Coalition of Eight passing a motion of no confidence against the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet on September 30. That Cabinet, supported by the crumbled majority of the UP-led coalition, demitted office on November 19, exactly 11 months after taking up the helm of the country.

 

The Daily Herald