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Sint Maarten Deserves A Stable Coalition Government

After the new interim UP/DP/Brownbill government is sworn in, Sint Maarten would have had seven coalition governments in seven years. This is an average of one government per year. If we also count the number of elections since 2010, including the upcoming February 2018, Sint Maarteners would have gone to the polls four times which boils down to an average of one election every two years.

For a small young country such as ours, having on average, a change of government every year and elections every two years is unacceptable Read more

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A Report Card For Members Of Parliament

At the end of every school year, students are evaluated and promoted or not promoted based on their performance during the year. Conversely, at the end of a parliamentary year, Members of Parliament are not evaluated yet they continue in parliament without anyone questioning their achievements, their performance or their competency to function as a parliamentarian.

I have observed that in several countries around the world, political and interest groups are developing report cards for parliamentarians Read more

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The Qualifications Of A Parliamentarian

Why even bother at this time to write about the qualifications of a parliamentarian when the next parliamentary election is all the way in 2020? Sadly, this has been the mentality in the past that has led us to vote for persons based, on friendship, family ties and family tradition, instead of looking at the qualifications, qualities and experience of the candidates.

One of the reasons why we have not paid much attention to the qualifications of parliamentarians is, because during election time, our politicians campaign as if they were running to become ministers in government Read more

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What Will Parliament Do With All The Reports?

Last week, yet another annual report was added to the long list of reports that Parliament has in its possession.

The General Audit Chamber, one of the High Councils of State, submitted for the seventh time, its annual report in both the Dutch and English languages. Hence, Members of Parliament, who are not versed in the Dutch language have no excuse about not being able to read or understand the Chamber’s annual report.

I would like to commend the Chamber for producing a very good report Read more

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A Critical Look At Parliament’S Budget

Parliament needs to be transparent with its budget! During budget debates members of parliament pose numerous questions, some critical, many political, concerning government’s budgeting and spending, but no one raises questions about parliament’s budget and parliament’s spending. The reason for this is because parliament’s budget is camouflaged among the budgets of the High Councils of State. Furthermore, according to the Compatibility Ordinance and the Rules of Order of Parliament the budget of Parliament is drafted by the Secretariat of Parliament, approved by the Presidium and then sent to the Minister of Finance to be included in the national budget Read more

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Is Parliament Serious About Independence?

Last week Wednesday, the Central Committee of Parliament, once again, invited the Independence for St. Martin Foundation (ISMF) to give a presentation regarding holding a referendum to determine whether the people of Sint Maarten desire to become independent or not. This is the fourth time that the ISMF was in parliament presenting its case. The first presentation was held in March 2016. Hereafter, the Central Committee reconvened, in September 2016, to give the ISMF the opportunity to answer questions that the MPs had posed in the first round in March Read more

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Un Asiento Vacío En El Parlamento

Traducido por Máximo Castro

Desde hace varias semanas, un escaño en el parlamento ha quedado obviamente vacío. Cuando la Presidenta del Parlamento, al comienzo de las reuniones públicas o de las reuniones del Comité Central, pregunta si hay notificaciones, ni un parlamentario, ni siquiera el líder de la facción del USP informa sobre la ausencia del diputado Silvio Matser.

En mi opinión, sólo una enfermedad puede justificar la ausencia continua de un miembro del parlamento Read more

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The Empty Seat In Parliament

For several weeks now, one seat in parliament has remained obviously empty. When, the President of Parliament, at the beginning of public meetings or of Central Committee meetings, asks if there are any notifications, not one parliamentarian, not even the USP faction leader reports on the absence of MP Silvio Matser.

In my opinion, only sickness can justify the continuous absence of a member of parliament Read more

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Parliament, Our Weak Link

Some people wonder why my writings deal mostly with the Parliament of Sint Maarten. This is because our Parliament is a new constitutional institution.

During the last campaign, leading up to the September 26, 2016 elections, the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) observed that the majority of the people knew and understood very little about our Parliament and about the role and function of the parliamentarians they were about to elect.

The people generally equated the role of a parliamentarian with that of a minister Read more

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Committees Are The Backbone Of Parliament

The system of parliamentary committees in the Netherlands is considered the backbone of the Dutch parliament. The review further indicates that two thirds of the work of parliament takes place in the committees.

Looking at how the committee system functions, in the parliament of Sint Maarten, we can only sadly conclude that our parliament is not functioning optimally due to the fact that the committees are not functioning.

The Annual Report of the Parliamentary Year 2015-2016 of Sint Maarten gives some insight as to how these committees are functioning Read more

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Parliament’S Right To Question Government

One of Parliament’s roles is to supervise the functioning of government. And one of its tools to carry out this supervisory function is the right to ask questions as laid down in article 62 of the Constitution.

This entails parliamentarians submitting their queries in writing to the government via the President of Parliament. Article 63 of the Constitution mentions that a Member of Parliament may also invite the ministers to provide information. Article 62 of the Rules of Order of Parliament states that this invitation will be considered by the President of Parliament, if it is supported by at least one other member of parliament Read more

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We, The People And Our Representatives In Parliament

Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman held a very successful Open House, with the aim to inform the public of its functioning.

For me, the highlight of the Open house was the very simple, yet profound, presentation given by the Ombudsman herself, Dr. Nilda Arduin. The presentation centered on the topic “We, the People.”

Dr. Arduin pointed out that in a democracy the people rule. She went on to compare a country to a house. As the owners of the house are working people and therefore unable to do their own house chores, they hire a domestic aid or servant to handle the chores and to run the household on their behalf Read more

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The First 100 Days Of Parliament?

On February 7, 2017, Parliament celebrated one hundred days in office. It is customary to evaluate a government’s performance, after they have been in office for one hundred days.

Parliaments, however, are generally overlooked when it comes to such an exercise. Seeing that St. Maarten got a most “unusual” parliament after the September 2016 elections, I became interested in wanting to know how effective this parliament has been during its first one hundred days, from October 31, 2016 to February 7, 2017 Read more

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Let Us Not Blame The Dutch

The appointment of Quartermaster Hans Leijtens, last week, came as a shock to our politicians. The Honorable Prime Minister said he was flabbergasted. The Honorable President of Parliament called the appointment provocative and Member of Parliament, Theo Heyliger, described it as vindictive.

And of course, the Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk, gets the blame Read more

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Parliament Should Take The People’S Business Seriously

The entire top brass of Parliament has flown off to Curaçao, for the entire week of January 9, to attend the Tripartite meetings and the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO).

While the President of Parliament, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, and First and Second Vice Presidents, MP drs. Rudolphe Samuel and MP Frans Richardson, respectively, are off island, the Parliament of St Read more

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Government Lacks Majority In Parliament

SMCP wishes the people of St. Maarten a blessed New Year and good governance throughout 2017. We pray that our Parliamentarians will raise the bar in Parliament and that the Council of Ministers will adhere to the principles of transparency, accountability, integrity, responsiveness, efficiency, effectiveness and the rule of law that result in good governance.

After a relatively long government formation process, St Read more

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Raising The Bar In Parliament In 2017

The people of St. Maarten expect a higher level of functioning from our Parliament in the New Year. Following a trial and error period of six years, our MPs should begin to raise the bar in 2017.

We expect our MPs, while on the floor of Parliament, to stick to the business at hand and not be carried away by personal or emotional circumstances. According to article 53 of the Constitution, parliamentarians should refrain from debating and voting on issues related to their person, their spouses or family members to the second degree.

If MPs are not pleased with the way family members are treated, this should be handled privately and not addressed on the floor of Parliament Read more

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Parliament And The Budget

Parliament’s website states that Parliament has two main tasks, namely to act as co-legislator and to exercise control over Government’s policies. The budget is an excellent example of co-legislation. It is drafted by the Government, but must be approved by Parliament in order for it to become a law.

On Monday, December 5, the Central Committee of Parliament, which consists of all fifteen members of Parliament, will meet to discuss the 2017 Budget of Country St Read more

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