SXMElections.com

Parliamentarian Maurice Lake has a point (see related story). The Gumbs cabinet has been short of two members for more than five months now.

Along with the lack of a governing programme, missing two ministers of what would normally be seven conceivably hampers the functioning of this government backed by a UP-led coalition. The fact that none of the current five had time to meet with the Permanent Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Affairs and Kingdom Relations ahead of next week's parliamentary consultations with the Netherlands, Curaçao and Aruba adds to that impression.

Moreover, it's understandable from a political point of view that Lake is urging that these vacancies be filled. After all, being able to occupy or appoint people to important and rewarding positions is one of the greatest benefits to participating in elections in the first place.

Then again, considering issues with the screening of candidate ministers during last year's formation process, it might not be so easy to find to find persons who are sure to pass such a test. Some probably don't want to risk the public embarrassment of being rejected for whatever reason either.

The UP legislator says nothing is happening other than talking integrity and questioning each other in Parliament. While that may be true to a certain extent, it is difficult to see having five rather than seven ministers as the main cause.

At the same time, the country faces serious financial difficulties and has trouble balancing the budget. If the cost per cabinet member with salary and all other related expenses were estimated moderately at US $20,000 per month, having two fewer is saving the taxpayer $480,000 or almost half-a-million dollars per year.

Should there be any strong available potential candidates who are likely to really make a positive difference they are obviously welcome, but other than that maintaining a smaller team is not the end of the world. In fact, this could very well be one of those cases where "Less is more."