Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
With the approval of the organisational structure for an Integrity Project Bureau (see Monday paper) the outgoing Wescot-Williams III cabinet is on the right track. It's one thing to reject the manner in which the instruction for one of the recent integrity investigations came about, but that doesn't mean the recommendations in the related report aren't valid and shouldn't be implemented.
In fact, St. Maarten's willingness to do so no doubt played a role in the Kingdom Council of Ministers refraining from issuing another instruction to that effect last Friday. Dutch Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk said, "We reviewed the integrity action plan for St. Maarten, which we are currently giving content to." He explained that representatives of the ministry in The Hague would visit the island this week to work out the details.
In announcing the new bureau, its task, approach and timeline, Justice Minister Dennis Richardson spoke of receptiveness to any constructive offers of support to St. Maarten as an autonomous country in addressing integrity matters. However, he added that due to wrongly being accused of "doing too little too late" and "not being aware of the urgency" too much was currently at stake to permit a possible delay.
The message is clear, but judging from the press release issued in connection with this matter one would have to assume the two parties can find common ground. The latter is also in the best long-term interest of the local population and the kingdom as a whole, because governance with integrity ultimately benefits law-abiding citizens and the entire community.
The placement of high-ranking officials in the work group that has now become the project bureau in any case inspires confidence regarding the seriousness of the effort, as do the two names mentioned for the independent oversight committee, while a third person in Netherlands also was being approached. If this process can be turned into a win-win situation for everyone involved, all the discussion may well prove to have been worth it in the end.
