PHILIPSBURG:--- Governor Eugene Holiday finds himself between a rock and a hard place now that the Royal Decree signed by the Minister of Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk has been officially published in the National Gazette.
The decree which was signed off on September 30th, 2013 orders Governor Holiday who is a representative of the King on St. Maarten to conduct an investigation on integrity in government.
Governor Holiday has three months in which he must submit a progress report to Minister Plasterk who is in charge of the investigation and six months to submit the final report.
On Thursday Members of Parliament discussed the instruction given to Governor Holiday.
The official decree can be viewed beneath this article. While Ministers and certain politicians are crying foul claiming that the Dutch Government used the wrong articles (laws) that is governing the Governor of St. Maarten, it must be noted that the man who did most of the work for St. Maarten to obtain its country status is not too happy with the decisions taken by the Dutch Government. Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson worked with all politicians and political parties to obtain the new status for St. Maarten he also worked on the country's constitution prior to St. Maarten becoming a country.
This is the second time Richardson had to deal with the Dutch in peculiar situations, the first was when higher supervision was imposed on St. Maarten on February 25th, 1993. At the time Richardson came in as Lt. Governor and now as Minister of Justice the Dutch issued an instruction to conduct an integrity investigation within the government of St. Maarten.
Below is the full translation of the Kingdom Decree sent to Governor Holiday to conduct an investigation on integrity within the Government of St. Maarten.
Explanatory Note:
The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom has since the beginning of 2013 been regularly making its concerns known to the government of St. Maarten with respect to the fact that the functioning and appearance of the government has become a matter of public debate. St. Maarten is regularly in the news in connection with recent incidents and rumors about integrity violations by politicians and the perception of the existence of corruption. There is also the generally shared feeling by citizens, business and foreign governments that proper government in the broad sense is a problem that is bigger and deeper than it appears. For example, reports that a Border Management System is lacking has drawn attention, not only within the Kingdom but also abroad-amongst others the United States. Outside as well as within the Kingdom a largely negative image about the country has been created, which also affects the entire Kingdom.
The Kingdom Council of Ministers therefore is of the opinion that there are sufficient grounds to conduct an investigation.
The undersigned has on behalf of the Council of Ministers held regular discussions during the past months, verbally as well as in writing, with the Prime Minister of St. Maarten about the situation which had arisen. On April 4, 2013 a letter was sent to the Prime Minister, wherein she was informed that the Kingdom Council Ministers would like to know which concrete measures the government would take in order to meet the concerns of the Kingdom Council of Ministers and remove the negative image.
As far as the integrity of politicians is concerned, the functioning of government and the civil service and the way citizens are treated, government has to set the example (practice what you preach). The citizens may expect government to carry out its duties in conformity with the rule of law and principles of democracy. That is essential for honorable, authoritative and trustworthy government.
When there is doubt concerning that, then serious consideration must be given to it. It is not apparent to the Kingdom Council that the government of St. Maarten gives this matter due care and attention. To prevent further erosion of the confidence of citizens, business, foreign governments and instances, an independent investigation of the bottlenecks and shortcomings into the proper and honest functioning of government (ministers and civil servants) is urgent.
For this reason the Kingdom government has decided to instruct the Governor (in his capacity as an organ of the Kingdom) to order an investigation into the proper and honest functioning of the public administration of St. Maarten as it ought to be in a democratic state under the rule of law. The investigation must be directed towards known bottlenecks such as prostitution, the gaming industry and immigration and on generally known sensitive sectors such (licenses for) infrastructural works and (other) large contracts.
The public administration which will be investigated includes the ministers and the ministries as well as those who work for them. Government N.V.'s can also be included. Excluded are Parliament, the judiciary, the Advisory Council, the Audit Chamber and the Ombudsman.
The aim of the investigation is to promote of good governance such as ought to be the case in a democratic state under the rule of law. This investigation is separate from the contract which the government of St. Maarten intends to enter into with Transparency International and which is currently being prepared. The Kingdom government prefers to conduct its own investigation as soon as possible, separate from that investigation. The investigation is also separate from any possible ongoing criminal investigations conducted by the Prosecutor's Office which are being conducted under the political responsibility of the Minister of Justice. The investigation must be carried out independently and must not involve instances of the country itself.
Based on those results and the recommendations coming out of report, the government of St. Maarten can, if need be in cooperation with other countries of the Kingdom, make improvements where necessary. So, with this decree an important step has been taken in restoring the confidence, here and abroad, that must be had in the proper and honest functioning of the country's government.
Legal Basis for the instruction:
The instruction is based on article 15 and 20 of the Regulations of the Governor of St. Maarten. The Governor, as an organ of the Kingdom, supervises the compliance with kingdom laws, among which is the Kingdom Charter (Statuut) and General Measures of Governance and the treaties with international organizations. In that regard he submits the necessary proposals to the Kingdom government. Article 15 paragraph 1 stipulates that he watches over the general interest of the Kingdom in accordance with the stipulations of the Regulations and taking into consideration instructions issued by or on behalf of Kingdom decree. He is responsible to the Kingdom government. The decree is also based on art. 43 of the Statuut in order to express that the reasons and considerations on which it rests find their basis in the values, mentioned in this stipulation, namely the fundamental human rights and freedoms, surety of law and good governance. Article 1 stipulates, in connection herewith, that the investigation is directed towards proper and honest functioning of the public administration such as is required in a democratic state under the rule of law. The guarantee function laid down in Article 43 of the Statuut also must be carried out by the Governor. From the stipulations cited in the Regulation it appears that an instruction must be given by royal decree and that it must fit within the normal functions of the Governor. Precisely in order to determine if the public administration of St. Maarten is functioning properly and honestly an investigation is needed. The government considers it necessary that the investigation be carried out under the supervision of someone who is close to the country government, but who can also keep their distance. The Governor knows the local conditions, the culture, the political and constitutional rules and customs. This is why he is the best person to act as the principal of the investigation.
The Regulation provides the Governor with the authority to request the cooperation of country organs; the services and civil servants are at his disposal (art. 24 RvdG). Therefore the entire cabinet of St. Maarten cooperates fully with the investigation. The governor alone is the Principal and he determines independently the work rules and results of the investigation.
To avoid all misunderstandings, be reminded that out of the aforementioned art. 24 follows that not only ministers and those who work for them, but all country organs are obliged to cooperate with the investigation as ordered by the Governor. They must be completely at the disposal of the investigators, if the Governor so desires.
