Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
It appears St. Maarten and the Dutch Government are heading for a showdown again, judging from statements by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson in today's paper. This time it regards what he called a "draconic" proposal for an Integrity Chamber.
The Hague apparently is not satisfied with the current local plans that call for one representative of the Netherlands in the three-member chamber as well as one in the Progress Committee that is to monitor the integrity improvement course. Instead, the intention is reportedly for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to appoint the Integrity Chamber's chairperson and his cabinet a second member, leaving St. Maarten with only one, while the secretariat also would be Dutch.
The Council of Ministers in Philipsburg is obviously not willing to agree to this setup, but the question is to what extent it will able to oppose such effectively. Mention was made of a "consensus" general measure of Kingdom Governance, but experience has shown that such a step can be taken without the consent of the Dutch Caribbean country involved simply by applying "higher supervision."
Hopefully the current visit of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk can lead to some form of compromise, so the population is not again faced with matters being imposed on its elected representatives and public administrators. A mutual solution also would be better in terms of clarity, to prevent a situation such as that with the screening of the current ministers, because while the Government of St. Maarten formally stuck to the local laws for such, indications remain that Dutch criteria and officials, including employees of the Secret Service, were heavily involved in the process.
It's a bit ironic in a sense that current parliamentarian Sarah Wescot-Williams asked her successor as Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs questions about this, considering she was still in office at the time. Perhaps the best person to answer them actually would be former "formateur" Theodore Heyliger, but he is not likely to do so, also out of respect for Governor Eugene Holiday and his function.
In the end, actions speak louder than words, so submitting to the Advisory Council "declarations and notifications" of cabinet members' assets, holdings, secondary positions and interests (see related story) was certainly a step in the right direction.
Even the political establishment in The Hague won't be able to deny that.
