Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--Three succinct questions have been formulated by Parliament's Permanent Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Affairs and Kingdom Relations for the Council of State in the ongoing discussion about the grounds on which the Kingdom Council of Ministers can issue instructions to the governors in the Dutch Caribbean.
The committee, headed by Democratic Party ((DP)) Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, composed three questions in its meeting Monday to be forwarded to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. The questions will be added to those of the Second Chamber and of Aruba before the package is delivered to the Council of State.
It regards whether the autonomy of the Dutch Caribbean countries is "infringed on" with the issuance of a kingdom instruction such as the one issued to Governor Eugene Holiday in 2013 for an integrity investigation of government.
MPs also want the Council of State to look into the legitimacy and justification for the instructions issued by the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
Tying the circumstances of the instruction with the much-needed dispute committee, the MPs requested that the Council of State point out the measures the Dutch Caribbean countries have to challenge a kingdom instruction and its basis when such is issued by the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
Monday was the deadline for Parliament to submit its questions to the Second Chamber. Independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo called on her fellow MPs to start handling urgent matters swiftly instead of waiting for the last minute as with Monday's session.
An extension on the original deadline of February 23 was requested by both Aruba and St. Maarten. After some initial reluctance, the Second Chamber agreed to extend the deadline to March 2.
The Permanent Committee had met on February 23 to discuss the formulation of the questions and the request for an extension.
The questions will be sent to the Netherlands by the Permanent Committee for addition to the three already formulated by the Second Chamber.
Those questions call for an explanation of the judicial basis for the Kingdom Council of Ministers to use a kingdom instruction (royal decree) to instruct a government in the Dutch Caribbean, what conditions and requirements are taken into account when a decision is taken by the Kingdom Council to issue an instruction and the specific judicial aspects the Kingdom Council uses in the decision-making process.
