Has Concerns on the Autonomy of Countries in the Kingdom Being Infringed Upon
PHILIPSBURG:--- During her weekly radio program One on One with the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams commented that the comments of the Prime Minister regarding independence were, according to her, taken out of context. The Prime Minister stated that despite the various things that were said various media sources unfairly focused on those comments. The Prime Minister also commented on the request by the Dutch Prime Minister to the Governor regarding integrity.
"I can understand why the call for independence throws some people off guard and in my opinion too many people have been paying attention to those statements. The issue came up in the context of talking about the constitutional changes and now that the islands from the former Netherlands Antilles have a different constitutional status there is a lot of work that has to be done to get this status the way we want to see it. The statement that was made was made in the context of moving away from the constitutional talk and towards economic talk. The only comment that the PM Rutte made was that if there was a need for countries to be independent those discussions could be had.
"There has been much criticism in Holland for the Dutch Caribbean, in particular for St. Maarten, from the Dutch media. They either don't know or don't want to know what the reality of what is occurring in the Caribbean. Instead of them wanting to know the truth they focus on hearsay and this is an example of that," commented the PM.
The Prime Minister also stated that she had some concerns regarding the request by Prime Minister Rutte regarding integrity issues. "I am concerned about the statement by Rutte asking the Governor to conduct an integrity assessment, although I have not seen required paperwork on that. The concerns that I have are related to the fact that Prime Minister Rutte has indicated that he will make that request on behalf of himself and Minister Plasterk which is not possible according to the laws that Govern the Kingdom Council of Ministers. A decision of the Kingdom Council of Ministers needs to happen exactly there, where our Minister Plenipotentiary forms a part of. It is clear, and Prime Minister Rutte is aware, that there is an integrity program on St. Maarten that has been ongoing from since before 10-10-10. I would hope that the Kingdom Council of Ministers would research the things that happen here before they make a decision either way. Integrity is a process and that process needs to be respected. To have the Governor asked to do such an investigation I think is simply a way to go back to the media and say I have done this or that, however what are the real benefits for us on St. Maarten?
"It is my belief that the Dutch Ministers sometimes loose out of view the fact that there is a Dutch Cabinet of Ministers and when there are meetings of the Kingdom then the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the three islands participate in those meetings. With the Dutch Ministers and the Ministers Plenipotentiary you have the Kingdom Council of Ministers so it can't be so that the Dutch Prime Minister and the Dutch Minister Plasterk agree to do something and say it is on behalf of the Kingdom Government. Kingdom decisions are made in the Kingdom Council of Ministers. We need to guard against the autonomy of the Countries being infringed in anyway. That is why I am concerned about the decision and I want to see it clarified," concluded the PM.
From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister
