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Agreement is reached on dispute regulation format

THE HAGUE--Following intense discussions on Thursday and many years of delay, the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten finally reached an agreement on the dispute regulation (geschillenregeling) for the Kingdom. Rulings of the body in charge of the dispute regulation will be binding rather than a mere advice, which is a major victory for the islands.

Besides the aspect of a binding ruling, the delegations agreed to give several pointers for the four governments at the Kingdom Conference in Curaçao on June 16 Read more

Sarah questions Govt on integrity protocol

THE HAGUE--"Does the government consider the maintenance of law and the other judicial parts in the document part of the Integrity Chamber? If not, why are those agreements part and parcel of the protocol regarding an Integrity Chamber?" was one of several questioned posed by Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a letter to the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet via Chairman of Parliament Dr Read more

MP Sarah Wescot Williams asks questions on Integrity Chamber.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Sarah Wescot Williams sent a letter to the chair of Parliament asking several questions about the agreement signed between the government of St. Maarten and the Netherlands. The letter sent to the chairman of Parliament reads:-

Questions Integrity Chamber protocol
Honorable Chairperson of Parliament,

During my stay in the Netherlands, I have been apprised of the protocol agreed upon between the governments of St Read more

Dp Leader Questions Integrity Chamber Protocol

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - More questions are being asked about the details of the Integrity Chamber agreement which was signed in The Hague last Saturday.

The agreement was signed between St. Maarten's Minister of Justice, the Honorable Dennis Richardson and the Dutch Government.

Many members of Parliament have expressed their disapproval about the manner in which the agreement was signed and the impact it will have on the authority of the island's highest legislative body, the Parliament of St Read more

Parliaments discuss joint integrity norms

THE HAGUE--The Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands debated on Wednesday about establishing parameters for common norms to safeguard and improve integrity of the governments in the Dutch Kingdom.

In the presence of Dutch National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen, the delegations talked about the importance of integrity, how integrity is perceived in the Kingdom and how to achieve more integrity in the governments and parliaments of the Kingdom.

Integrity is about one’s own behaviour, being transparent and consistent in one’s actions, said Van Zutphen Read more

St. Maarten Parliament annoyed over protocol

THE HAGUE--The days of St. Maarten’s Justice Minister Dennis Richardson may very well be numbered now that he has signed a protocol with the Dutch Government to establish an independent Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten and to strengthen the island’s law enforcement sector. Members of the St. Maarten Parliament are not accepting that Parliament is being sidetracked in the protocol.

The protocol Minister Richardson and Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk signed on Saturday states that the St Read more

Suriname election: Bouterse leads, but too early to tell

PARAMARIBO--At 10:00pm Monday, three hours after polling stations closed, it was still hard to get a clear indication who would emerge the winner of the elections.

Only about 10 per cent of all votes cast at the 623 polling stations had been counted and while these seemed to favour President Desi Bouterse’s National Democratic Party, the number was too low to base a prediction on.

A spokeswoman for the Central Voting Bureau expected all votes to be counted by midnight to 1:00am Tuesday, after which it would not be long before a winner would be declared Read more

Parliaments set on resolving dispute regulation dilemma

THE HAGUE--Delegations of the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are resolute to conclude the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO this week with a solution for the design of a dispute regulation (geschillenregeling).

"We want to get this solved for once and for all. More and more things are getting stuck in a dilemma in the relations between the Kingdom partners," said Member of the St. Maarten Parliament and Chairperson of Parliament's Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party (DP)) on Monday.

The three Dutch Caribbean Parliaments held tripartite meetings in The Hague on Monday in preparation for the IPKO which starts on Wednesday Read more

Government Gone Silent On Integrity Chamber Says Dp Leader Wescot-Williams

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The faction of the Democratic Party in Parliament now has many questions regarding the proposed integrity chamber for St. Maarten.

Leader MP the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams in a recent pre Read more

Sarah queries hold-up of labour law changes

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has enquired about the status of the draft law to amend the Civil Code and other ordinances to better regulate labour agreements.

She has written to Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

Sarah to lobby opposition for audit chamber investigation

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams said she will be lobbying her fellow opposition members to bring about an investigation by the General Audit Chamber into the security contract between St Read more

Still no consensus on dispute arrangement

THE HAGUE--The four countries of the Kingdom generally agree that the Council of State would be an ideal body to handle the dispute arrangement. However, the negotiations to reach an agreement have not been successful thus far.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk confirmed during a debate with the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday that no consensus had been reached on establishing a dispute arrangement Read more

Judge pressures State Dept. on Clinton emails release

WASHINGTON--A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. State Department to produce a plan to release batches of Hillary Clinton's emails from her time there, raising the prospect of months of drip-by-drip disclosures that could plague her presidential campaign.
  U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered the State Department to prepare a timetable by next week for the rolling release of the 55,000 pages of emails sent and received by Clinton, according to a court document. It was a rebuke to the State Department, which had said on Monday it might need until January 2016 to produce the emails.
  Republicans want the emails to be made public soon to cast more light on Clinton's term as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, a time when the United States struggled to reset relations with Russia and develop a strategy for Syria's civil war.
  The judge also told the State Department to present a schedule in the coming days for releasing 300 Clinton emails related to U.S Read more

Ministers to face MPs this week about missing info

PHILIPSBURG--Ministers of the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet are to be called before Parliament's Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations to provide information the committee has requested for several months.

The committee became displeased two weeks ago with the sluggish pace of government's response and issued a 48-hour deadline for all information to be submitted Read more

Electoral Council may soon consider penalty for party

PHILIPSBURG--The Electoral Council may soon be forced to consider imposing a financial penalty on one of the eight political parties registered for the 2014 Parliamentary Election that has failed to submit its annual report to the Council.

All registered political parties had up to February 1 to submit all their donation registries and annual financial reports to the Council as required under the National Ordinance on the Registration and Financing of Political Parties. To date, one party is in default of its legal obligations.

Electoral Council Chairman Attorney Bert Hoffman told The Daily Herald the Council would inform the party via letter that it must get its financial business "in order or face penalties." The Council still has to decide on the exact amount of the penalty.

Hoffman declined to give the name of the defaulting party, only saying they know who they are Read more