PHILIPSBURG--The 55-year-old Democratic Party (DP) is strong and has no need to add "any splash of colour" to its logo, said DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams Tuesday, alluding to logo of the newly launched United People's (UP) Party of former DP Commissioner Theo Heyliger.

The logo, unveiled Saturday, features UP in lime green, the first letter with an arrowhead pointing upwards against a backdrop of orange on which the party Website:

www.upparty.com is written. The orange also signifies the merge of UP with the People's Progressive Alliance (PPA) of another former DP member, Gracita Arrindell.

Heyliger had said at the launch that UP was "like a breath of fresh air in a stuffy, old room," when in reality he had been in that stuffy room for over 10 years, Wescot-Williams said. All the "fanfare" of the UP/PPA team up is "just the same players involved" in a new brand.

Heyliger, she added, should not think he would "get away" with statements like those, nor expect the people "to swallow it, hook and all."

Heyliger left DP when it was "no longer good" and did the same with the NA coalition by resigning as a commissioner on July 19.

The DP leader said that talk is growing "bigger and bigger" out there that "a party" has "some pact" with DP to team up after the September 17 elections. DP "does not need to join forces or add a splash of colour to its logo."

DP's slate of 23 candidates for the September polls will be made up of strong people. Of those 23, fifteen will emerge as parliamentarians who will hold the faith of the seven-member council of ministers in their hands. "This [the elections] is a serious issue. It is not a carnival."

Asked if DP will say which candidates will become ministers or if others have been selected as ministers prior to the polls, Wescot-Williams said DP will not get ahead of itself. She added that DP, unlike other parties, has not promised anyone that if he or she serves on its board, but is not a candidate, he or she is still guaranteed a minister's post.

She cautioned candidates and potential candidates to be careful what they say in public statements and to know their party and party leader's position on issues they raise, because those statements could come back to haunt the candidate and the party in the future.