Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
St. Maarten —A new book–St. Maarten: Our Constituent State Constitutional Framework– will be launched shortly by political analyst and science researcher Julio Romney.  Romney, who attended several schools in his early years on St. Maarten, went on to study in Canada where he pursued a double major in economics and political science at the University of Winnipeg.
The content of the publication includes the constitutional framework and elaborates on the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Constitution of St. Maarten, the structure and the functioning of government. It also speaks volumes of the functioning of Kingdom Government, His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, the Kingdom Council of Ministers, the Minister of Plenipotentiary, the Kingdom Council of State and the Governor.
It is mentioned in the publication that even though St. Maarten is referred as “Country St. Maarten†it is not a country but a constituent state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He defined a country as a territory that is politically independent and should have sovereignty—no other state or country should have power over the country territory. “This is certainly not the case with St. Maarten as it is a constitutional entity forming part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and as a result it is properly defined as a “constituent state,†Romney explained.
He noted that there are 195 independent countries in the world and the Netherlands is counted as one of them. He further explained that conceptually, there cannot be a country within a country.
On the issue of dualism, he stated in the book, that the term has been used incorrectly to reflect the separation of powers between the legislative and the executive branches of government. He pointed out that the definition exemplifies “a state of mind, good or evil or the existence of two parts that are separate and distinct such as the mind and the body.â€
He however states that it is a loose term which is primarily used in Dutch politics to denote that members of the executive branch of government cannot simultaneously be members of the legislative branch or vise versa. Romney notes that political dualism is more about public officials not being permitted to serve in more than one branch of government, with no reference to the concept or doctrine of separation of powers.
Romney has also pursued a Doctorial degree concentrating on Comparative Government & Politics and American National Government at Howard University in Washington DC. He is also the author of several research position papers such as “Unfolding St. Maarten political culture, Why has the Democratic Party dominated Electoral Politics for more than three decades, Cultural Unity within Political Diversity, The Social Economic and Legal Implications of the Constitutional Changes of Saint Martin and Sint Maarten.
