Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
The report of the Public Administration Integrity Committee titled "Doing the right things right" is quite an eye-opener. It lists no less than 40 recommendations, including the establishment of a permanent Integrity Chamber as a new High Council of State.
The latter alone indicates that there are issues in this regard that require dealing with on structural basis. It's also important to note that this is the Wescot-Williams cabinet inquiry launched via national decree and not the one ordered by the Kingdom Government through the Governor of St. Maarten.
The new chamber would have the authority to investigate the process of public tenders as well as advising on the appointment, suspension and dismissal of both top civil servants and board members at government-owned companies, always a sensitive topic. The latter actually raises questions about the role of the current Corporate Governance Council (CGC), but the reality is that this body has not been able – or allowed – to function particularly well since it was installed after country status went into effect on 10-10-10.
The report specifically mentions the "watchdog" function of the envisioned entity, giving it a considerable measure of autonomy and the power to carry out audits, publish its advice and create a hotline for integrity violations. The idea to appoint the chamber's members based on a proposal from the Court President, the Advisory Council Vice-Chairman (so, not the governor who is the formal chair), the General Audit Chamber President and the Ombudsman in any case makes sense and should safeguard against too much political influence.
Also the suggestion to create a public register for parliamentarians' side-jobs seems worthwhile, as there have been occasions when legislators debated and even voted on matters related to their other activities. Reducing their full-time salaries accordingly if they are allowed to have different occupations is called for anyhow, as is recording their financial positions before and shortly after their departure.
Moreover, existing local legislation regarding the latter for ministers should be revisited. The same goes for screening prospective cabinet members using the tougher Curaçao method and applicable law as an example.
Today's story on the report is only a first summary, as the document consists of 81 pages and requires further study. Nevertheless, one already can say that it will be most interesting to see what parties and/or individual candidates wholeheartedly support its conclusions in public ahead of next week's vote and are willing to make a true commitment to put the ideas into practice if elected.
Correction:
Yesterday's editorial erroneously stated that the polls will be open from 8:00am to 7:00pm on Election Day, when it should have said until 8:00pm. It's the Civil Registry that will be open 8:00am to 7:00pm for voters to collect their voting cards if they haven't received such yet by August 21. We apologise for the mix-up.
