Ten MPs voted in favor of draft law to establish Integrity Chamber --- DP Faction Leader spearheaded the drafting and finalizing of law
PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten has to brace itself for a possible instruction in order to establish an integrity chamber on St. Maarten. Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson submitted the document to the Parliament of St. Maarten on Monday where the Dutch Government want Kingdom Council of State to grant them permission to impose a Kingdom measure on St. Maarten in order for them to establish an integrity chamber on St. Maarten.
The Dutch Government said in its plea to the Kingdom Council of State that St. Maarten did not respect the protocol that was signed on June 2nd 2015 where the Parliament of St. Maarten would have had until July 1st 2015 to ratify the protocol that was signed between St. Maarten and the Dutch, further to that Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk said that the Minister of Justice of St. Maarten Dennis Richardson unilaterally changed the protocol when it comes to giving instructions to the Attorney General.
Besides the two main arguments Minister Plasterk wrote almost 20 pages in his explanatory notes to describe St. Maarten as a country that is full of corruption. Minister Plasterk quoted the Pourrier report that was written in 1992 he said each time St. Maarten is told to address the issues of corruption nothing is done about it.
Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson informed the Parliament of St. Maarten that the instruction was off the table while he was busy negotiating with the Dutch but that instruction is now back on the table with more contents.
Minister Richardson also gave some contents to the statements made by Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers who said that he preferred to die standing rather than living on his knees. Minister Richardson said that while he agree with those statements he outlined exactly who made the statement and when it was made. The Minister of Justice further stated that no one person has the right to sell out or trample on the country’s autonomy further to that the government of St. Maarten has to act smartly especially since the country are outnumbered in the Kingdom Council. The Minister said people does not have to become slaves because of unjust opinions or manipulation. He urged parliament to support the signed law which was presented to Parliament by the Council of Ministers. Minister Richardson said the questions asked in the month of May is no longer relevant because the situation has changed however, he did made clear that the Council of Ministers does not need the approval of parliament when they discuss and signed the national ordinance. Minister Richardson went on to answer of the questions that were posed by Members of Parliament some months ago before the meeting was adjourned.
Member of Parliament and Leader of the National Alliance William Marlin said as far as he can see the protocol that was signed by the Minister of Justice was put aside and the Dutch has chosen to move forward in their own way. Marlin said he wanted to know why the Minister of Justice said he was willing to go to jail for his country last week because in reality the Council of Ministers will lay the blame on the Parliament of St. Maarten whom they compromised when they signed the national ordinance. Marlin said that based on the statements made by the Chief of Police of the Netherlands Mr. Bouman when he visited St. Maarten it is clear that the Dutch has no intention to continue discussions with St. Maarten but instead they will proceed to do what they wanted to do from the very inception. Marlin then informed the Council of Ministers that when it comes to voting his faction will not be supporting the national ordinance as it is to establish an integrity chamber on St. Maarten.
MP Sarah Wescot Williams asked that the speaker’s time be extended by 10 minutes in order for her and other MPs to get their fair say. MP Wescot Williams said that the government did compromise the Parliament of the St. Maarten when they placed a deadline date in the national ordinance. She said the law signed by the Minister of Justice and the Kingdom is not the best she has seen however, she do believe that St. Maarten Government needs to know their role and duties. She made it clear that it’s the government responsibility to draft a proper law to establish an integrity chamber and if and when the parliament of St. Maarten approves that law no one including the Kingdom could stop St. Maarten from executing its law. MP Wescot Williams informed the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice that the Parliament of St. Maarten is there to control Government and not vise-versa or to do their work. She also expressed disgust on the statements made by the Chief of Police of Netherlands Bouman after the brutal murder of Officer Benjamin.
Wescot Williams also called on the Government to learn something from the Dutch Government/ Kingdom Government. MP Wescot Williams asked the Ministers that were in parliament on Monday if they already responded to the Kingdom Government on their latest option taken on July 21st.
MP Franklin Meyers in his presentation said that he will stand by his statements, he gave credit to MP Sarah Wescot Williams who said during the faction meetings said that the parliament of St. Maarten should approve national ordinance as is and they will come with amendments at a later date. As such MP Franklin Meyers submitted a motion to Parliament to approve the national ordinance based on the advice of MP Sarah Wescot Williams. MP Meyers said that the Dutch believes that might is right and even if St. Maarten fights if they want to come in and take over they will do just that.
Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel lambasted the Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson whom he said committed treason. MP Emmanuel said that the Minister of Justice did wrong and one of the things he should do is resign as that in his view would be the honorable thing. Emmanuel said he understands why the other MPs wants to approve the national ordinance which he believes is to appease the Dutch. However, he will not be doing that he said that his faction leader already stated the position of the National Alliance.
MP Emmanuel said for him that is not going to work because the people of St. Maarten did not vote for the Dutch they voted for the 15 Members of Parliament in St. Maarten. He said it’s time for St. Maarten leaders and its people step up to the plate and fight. “Had the Minister of Justice come here and told us to lets fight this, I would have supported him wholeheartedly, but what the Minister is did here is “throw in the gloves” in order to appease the Dutch.
MP Sarah Wescot Williams played a major role in getting the majority in parliament to turn the motion into an Landsbesluit which will also be copied to the Kingdom Government. The motion was amended based on the recommendations of MP Wescot Williams, ten members of parliament then voted in favor of the motion while the four Members of Parliament representing the National Alliance voted against.
