Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
While concerns remain over the recent sudden announcement that St. Maarten Student Support Services S4 would be discontinued effective July 1, discussions on the move by Education Minister Rita-Bourne Gumbs with a group of those directly impacted and Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Netherlands (see related article) probably will have been at least somewhat reassuring. The intention apparently is to continue the adjustments as planned, so it's good that the person politically responsible for the decision was able to provide an explanation.
Perhaps it was the air in The Hague, because the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation IPKO turned out to be a positive encounter as well, leading to consensus among the four delegations on the framework for a kingdom dispute regulation. While important details, including the body in charge of such, are still to be determined and its scope will be limited to strictly legal differences for now, the fact that the rulings are to become binding for all, including the Dutch Government, is obviously crucial.
Nevertheless, the choice to be made between the High Court, the Council of State or a separate Joint Court of Justice as mentioned is no small detail. In two cases it regards judges, while the Council of State is more of an advisory body for which the three Caribbean countries also nominate one representative each.
The Hague is also where agreement in principle was reached on the Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten for which the Kingdom Council of Ministers has been pushing, although several local parliamentarians, including one supporting the Gumbs cabinet, were annoyed by what they consider sidelining the legislature.
However, the protocol requires the Chamber to be anchored in a national ordinance that Parliament must approve. Of course, it was stated beforehand that no changes are allowed, in effect creating a "take it or leave it" proposition.
Should the majority say "no" the deal simply would be off, in which case the already announced General Measure of Kingdom Governance evidently can be expected. In that sense the signature placed by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson actually changed nothing.
That in no way means the people's elected representatives should not be critical towards the content and the DP fraction already has submitted some pertinent questions on the issue. One must keep in mind as well that the UP-led coalition has 10 of 15 seats when only eight are needed to pass draft legislation.
It will be interesting to see who votes what, but until a functioning dispute regulation actually is established and the use of kingdom general measures restricted, the Dutch are likely to continue having the last say in these matters.
