SXMElections.com

~ Suggest business cabinet ~

PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten United Ministerial Foundation has called for Sunday, November 9, to be a day of pray and fasting to help bring the country out of its impasse with the Dutch Government about the instruction for additional screening for minister candidates. This measure was taken due to "serious concerns" about the integrity of the government, said the foundation.

The instruction has caused the appointment of ministers and the prime minister to come to a halt.

"This situation is not good at all for St. Maarten, because it brings with it insecurity and instability and creates a negative image in the eyes of ourselves as a people, as well as in towards investors and the outside world," the foundation said.

In the former Netherlands Antilles when a government leader's integrity was questioned, "even though he/she was not yet proven guilty, we would hear of that leader 'doing the honourable thing.'"

In the past four years, St. Maarten's government leaders "broke with that ethical and moral custom, and whether accused or guilty they maintained their positions in government. They might have acted legally, but they certainly broke all moral laws and acted without any sense of ethics and integrity."

The foundation questioned if the commitment of the incoming government leader Theo Heyliger that the recommendations of the various integrity reports will be implemented is enough to get on with the business of forming the government.

"To bridge the gap between the past government riddled with integrity issues, and the promise of the incoming government to implement the integrity recommendations found in the various reports, the Governor and Parliament should consider forming a 'Zakenkabinet' that would lay the foundation for the incoming government," said the foundation.

This interim cabinet would comprise professionals and persons from the business sector "who have passed the stringent screening and whose integrity is above reproach. They would govern the country for a definite period of time according to an agreed upon governing accord."

The main focus of this accord would be to deal with, among other things, the establishing, implementation and monitoring of integrity codes and standards.

Once the period of time is completed, the interim cabinet yields to the new government which is expected to continue to govern the country according to the acceptable integrity standards and codes, the foundation said.