Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--With integrity continuing to be the buzz word in St. Maarten, Parliament established its ad hoc committee on integrity Tuesday, but not without much discussion on the membership.
The establishment of the committee was recommended by Democratic Party ((DP)) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a written proposal in January. The committee is expected to become a permanent committee of Parliament in the near future.
Only the faction leaders will serve on the integrity committee, although there was some discussion in the meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament in regard to expanding the integrity committee to add more MPs.
United People's (UP) party faction leader MP Franklin Meyers requested that fellow UP Parliamentarian Tamara Leonard be added to the committee. After this was accepted, National Alliance (NA) MP Silveria Jacobs requested membership. However, neither Leonard nor Jacobs was allowed to join the committee. This came after independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo reminded Meyers of the decision made in the faction leaders' meeting to include only faction leaders as part of the ad hoc committee.
Wescot-Williams said she concurred with Meyers about the inclusion of only faction leaders, but pointed out it was up to the Central Committee to decide whether to expand the committee's membership.
Parliament Chairman Dr. Lloyd Richardson put the expansion of the committee to a vote. By the show of hands, seven MPs, all from the coalition, voted to keep the committee membership exclusively to faction leaders, while three MPs voted to open up the committee.
Before the ad hoc integrity committee was established formally in a plenary session of Parliament that followed the Central Committee meeting, the discussion about expanding the membership continued with MP Christophe Emmanuel (NA) questioning whether all MPs were equal due to what he saw as a freeze-out of MPs who were not faction members from the ad hoc committee.
Jacobs again put forward her name to serve on the ad hoc committee.
In response, United St. Maarten (US) party leader MP Frans Richardson said faction members of all parties had been in the faction leaders meeting when it was proposed to restrict membership to faction leaders. Those leaders should have informed their members, instead of allowing it to appear as though "a hostile takeover" was occurring in Parliament.
MP Marlin-Romeo concurred with Frans Richardson, adding that if there was no communication between MPs and their faction leaders, perhaps the role of faction leaders should be revisited.
MP George Pantophlet emphasised that Parliament, not the faction leaders, had the final say on the membership of committees. He was informed by Dr. Richardson that membership would be open to all MPs when the permanent committee on integrity was established.
Faction leaders serving on that committee are MPs William Marlin (NA), Franklin Meyers (UP), Leona Marlin-Romeo (independent), Cornelius de Weever (independent), Frans Richardson ((US) party) and Sarah Wescot-Williams ((DP)).
The ad hoc committee will seek remedies for Parliament's integrity shortcomings as cited in the various reports on the subject. Government has addressed its shortcomings via its response to the various integrity reports, but has indicated that Parliament's challenges should be dealt with by the legislature. This was the basis for Wescot-Williams' proposal.
The WitÂSamson Report cited the need for the fullÂtime position of a Parliamentarian to be defined, establishment of a Registration of Gifts, declaration of MPs' side jobs and financial status, for a Code of Conduct and training. These will be tackled by the ad hoc committee.
The General Audit Chamber Report on integrity also called for a Code of Conduct for Parliament, broadening the list of functions incompatible with the post of MP and the need to implement rules and policies in Parliament.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers report on the same subject also called for trainings for politicians, an integrity assessment of Parliament, better oversight by Parliament on budget and Audit Chamber reports, and the need for Parliament to sign on to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
Parliament "needs to step up to the plate" by formulating a follow-up to the recommendations of the reports. "This needs to be done with the same or higher priority that Parliament urged government to apply to its (the government's) plan," Wescot-Williams stated in her January proposal.
The two meetings on Tuesday morning also dealt with the expanded membership of Parliament's permanent committees. This came as a result of a number of MPs signalling interest to join the committees after they were established at the start of the 2014-2015 Parliamentary Year.
