PHILIPSBURG:--- The people of St. Maarten many of whom are accusing the media for not doing their jobs and highlighting the things that are going wrong on St. Maarten especially the latest development where the constitution of St. Maarten are being misused.
One of the main questions the people of St. Maarten have now that the Governor has agreed to call new elections after the parliament of St. Maarten gave the Council of Ministers a motion of no confidence, will the Council of Ministers use article 59 each time the Parliament of St. Maarten passes a motion or law they do not like?
Those that emailed SMN News wants to know if the Council of Minister will use article 59 to dissolve parliament and call for new elections each time the parliament of St. Maarten passes something that the Council of Ministers do not like? Clearly, article 59 of the constitution was highly misused by the Gumbs cabinet and even though one of the mandate the incoming government has before election is called is to work on electoral reform to curtail the ship jumping, but what would this new Government (Parliament) do to stop the misuse article 59 when parliament call the Council of Ministers to order?
One of the key persons’ that have remained silent on this entire issue is the Ombudsman of St. Maarten, will the country’s Ombudsman seek to amend the law and or constitution in order to stop Council of Ministers from misusing article 59 of the constitution against their bosses?
What action would the Governor of St. Maarten take against the current Council of Ministers whom he informed that they are only allowed to work on pending matters since they are a caretaker cabinet? SMN News published two Landsbesluit that were written after September 30th, one even have a glaring conflict of interest. Will Ministers be held accountable for their actions and misuse of power?
It is clear that the current Gumbs cabinet is working illegally and while they requested a meeting with the Governor which is to be held on Wednesday it is already known that the Gumbs cabinet will try to grand stand the Governor by demanding that he sign the LB to dissolve the Parliament of St. Maarten as they submit their resignations. It is left to be seen if the Governor will take action or allow himself be abused by people that are already occupying government offices illegally. Will the new majority in parliament take the bull by its horns and file a criminal complaint against the Gumbs cabinet or will they continue to play friendly politics at the expense of the people.