Philipsburg: -- Minister of constitutional affairs Roland Duncan in an interview with SMN News said that the executive council of St. Maarten is yet to respond to his proposal of extending the executive council. Duncan said he sent a letter to the executive council almost a month ago explaining to them that it can be clever for them to agree on extending the present executive council to seven. Duncan said that this would pave the way for St. Maarten being ready and prepared to handle the seven ministries in the new setting as country. "Right now there are five commissioners in the executive branch which means they are lacking two. Having seven commissioners would then make it easier to transfer a ministry to each of the commissioner.
The minister said that the possibility for Curacao to move up nine ministries are possible in the constitution, but for St. Maarten having only eleven island council members requires a change in the constitution. He said when studying the situation of St. Maarten and knowing that the politicians are looking to have a parliament that consists of 15 seats he believed the change was necessary to comply with the requirements of having 15 seats.
He said in his proposal he made clear that the two additional commissioners cannot be island council members but to date the DP led executive council has not responded to his letter. "I am surprised to see in one of the daily newspapers that they agree with my suggestion but I will not be working on or submitting any change in the law unless I get a written agreement from the executive council of St. Maarten." Duncan declared.
The Minister said that the newspaper that carried the article on the extension of the executive council did not properly explain the scenario he presented to the executive council and fully discussed with Commissioner Roy Marlin. Duncan said that if the present executive council were extended with non-island council members they would not be able to vote on anything. This way he said it would not disrupt the present structure of the island council.
The Minister also made clear that he did not made the suggestion as remedy for the present political crisis. He said right now it seems as some politicians are hoping for this to be the solution. He said should St. Maarten agree to change in the constitution then the process would begin.
However, it would take two to three months before the law could be made available since he would also have to consult with Holland since the Kingdom has to agree on the change.
The Minister said that at times he is amused by the present administration, because to date they have not responded to him yet he is hearing that this proposal will be used to negotiate the formation of a new government. "Bear in my mind I can fantazise with anything and I can make proposal but I cannot force this down the throats of the elected".