PHILIPSBURG- The United St. Maarten Party (USP) wants to make the independence one of the main agenda points for the next general elections on the island.

Political and social activist Shujah Reiph, speaking at the USP party congress on Sunday, urged those present to face the island’s independence ‘with confidence’. During the congress, Pamela Gordon-Carty was also elected as the party’s new leader.

“Since the signing of the Concordia Treaty of 1648, for the past 373 years, European colonization has been present in St. Martin and it is time for colonialism to disappear,” said Reiph.

Frans Richardson

The USP, founded in 2013 by Frans Richardson. The founder of the party has recently been convicted of large-scale fraud, for which he can serve several years in prison. Richardson sees himself as a victim of ‘political persecution’ by the Public Prosecution Service, which he believes to be dominated by European Dutch.

Although people sometimes plead for independence of the island from The Netherlands, so far that has never led to electoral success for any party on the island.