Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--The exact role the Dutch Secret Service played in the screening of minister candidates for the Gumbs Cabinet is questioned by Democratic Party ((DP)) Leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams in a letter sent this week to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs.
She seeks answers to the Dutch Secret Service's role in the screening, whether theirs was a one-time involvement, or will this continue for subsequent cabinets and how the service's role is "formalized nationally."
Her request to the prime minister for answers "has nothing to do" with the persons who were subjected to the screening process, but are directed to "the process" used to screen them.
Dutch Minister for Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Roland Plasterk was quoted by the media as saying that ministers sworn-in on December 19, 2014, were "subjected with the assistance of employees of the Dutch secret service to an extra-severe screening."
Wescot-Williams framed her questions to the prime minister based on Plasterk's statement and St. Maarten's established national decree related to screening of minister candidates. She wrote to Gumbs that considering Parliament's motion of October 22, 2014, rejecting the measure of instruction to the governor on the "very same screening" he needs to inform Parliament of the exact role of the Dutch Secret Service.
"Any changes or amendments" to the national ordinance "should also be made public," she said.
In her letter, she asked Gumbs if the "new screening regulations and procedures" include a role for the Dutch Secret Service and whether the role is "laid down" in a national decree or other national regulation. If such a decree or resolution exists, Wescot-Williams wants to know if it has been publicized or if the national decree LB of May 22, 2013, number 0442 has been amended by government.
Government has "quietly closed off the chapter" on the screening of ministers. However, with the statement attributed to Plasterk regarding the screening, government has "no choice, but to inform and explain" Parliament and the public about the process used to screen the ministers, and who was tasked with the execution.
