ORANJESTAD- Leader of the Democratic Party (DP) in St. Eustatius said on Tuesday that she does not agree with what she calls the ‘tearing down’ of Government Commissioner Alida Francis. 

“The Government Commissioner is local and has lived and worked on Statia for many years. It is rather disappointing to listen to the many ways council members in their discourse try to tear down and verbalize her level of competence”, said Spanner. 

Spanner notes that in the process, the same factions are also questioning the Civil Servants who are working together with Francis. 

“While tearing her down, they claim to respect the civil servants who are the engine behind her proposals and basis for her decisions. These are the same people whose pre-intervention Deputies were sent home for task neglect. What standard of competence were they held to?”, asked Spanner.

Local

The council lady says that if the island  has a Local Island Council, albeit with limited responsibilities, as well as a local Government Commissioner, it could be argued that the island is extremely close to the return of full democracy.

Spanner said that, according to her, it should not matter who appointed Francis and this should not be an argument used against her.