Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--It appears, said Democratic Party ((DP)) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams, that the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet and by extension the governing coalition have "suddenly lost interest" in the establishment of an integrity chamber for the country.
"It is revealing that suddenly the urgency is no longer there for our own 'thing,'" the MP said.
She has drawn this conclusion from the response of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs to her inquiry Thursday about the timeframe for the tabling of the draft national law to establish the integrity chamber in Parliament.
Gumbs, in an immediate response on Thursday to Parliament President Dr. Lloyd Richardson on the opposition MPs inquiry, suggested putting off the handling of the law for three weeks. The reason given for the delay was Gumbs' travels for "urgent" government business.
Wescot-Williams wants to know from Gumbs what "so important" government business he has to deal with that calls for the postponement on handling the law for three weeks.
She queried if the prime minister has to travel, why doesn't Deputy Prime Minister/Justice Minister Dennis Richardson, who "until now ran with the integrity ball," not go to Parliament to continue the discussion on the draft ordinance.
"Was an agreement reached during the Deputy Prime Minister's recent travel to the Netherlands?" Wescot-Williams asked. "The feedback given by the deputy Prime Minister upon his return to St. Maarten was rather ambiguous (not clear)."
Richardson travelled to the Netherlands earlier this week for a hearing with the Kingdom Council of State to defend St. Maarten's position against a pending measure dealing with integrity from the Kingdom Government.
"What was told to the Deputy Prime Minister during his visit to the Netherlands and his audience with the Council of State and what did he commit St. Maarten to," she added.
Wescot-Williams said in a press statement Friday, "Excuse me, this legislation was the same one for which Members of Parliament, mainly those supporting the coalition, were chided by Government Ministers Gumbs and Richardson, for criticising the draft law."
She called the chiding of the coalition MPs by the ministers in the Central Committee meeting of Parliament more than two weeks ago "peculiar."
"... One would assume that this ordinance was passed by the coalition members before coming to Parliament," she said.
On the side of Parliament, Wescot-Williams wants to know whether MPs supporting the governing coalition are in favour of moving on the integrity chamber ordinance as handled in the Central Committee of Parliament or not.
Earlier this week, coalition MP Maurice Lake (United People's Party) called on fellow MPs to "get on-board" to approve the "home-grown" draft ordinance to establish an integrity chamber "after certain changes are made."
Lake said if the ordinance is left hanging "... we will be talking integrity for another six months without anything happening for the people and moving St. Maarten forward ... if we don't approve our own draft ordinance to establish the integrity chamber it will open up the road for the General Measure of Kingdom Governance."
Lake is "in favour" of the draft ordinance tabled in the Central Committee of Parliament by the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet two weeks ago, but with changes.
