The former commissioner of constitutional affairs said during the year 2009 they did not hear anything on the draft constitution and just recently they are bombarded with copies which showed that certain articles must be changed. One of the articles of concern is the one which states that there must be a two third majority vote by members of parliament for loan agreements Island Councilmember Roy Marlin said this is one of the proposals of government and the DP faction wants to know why there would be need for a two third majority vote for loan while the country budget is carried by a simple majority of the members present.
Marlin said when this matter was raised in the central committee meeting government then acknowledged that has to be changed since it made no sense.
Wescot Williams said a number of other changes were made to the draft constitution which was voted by her executive council in October 2006. She said that they also noticed that government made several changes to the article which stipulates that any elected official can face removal of office if they are convicted or suspected of a crime. She said just recently they noticed that government added another clause to the article that states that the article on removal of elected officials will not be retroactive. Government went as far as adding in specific offences which constitute the removal of office of elected officials.
"While St. Maarten was lauded in the past for having this in the constitution it now becomes a matter of infringements on ones constitutional rights. "Right now we are discussing the active and the passive right to vote." She said if government is still thinking on how to add this article in the constitution then it should be taken out completely from the constitution and regulated by an ordinance at a later date.
The matter of the dismissal of a politician if convicted or suspected of crime goes back very far and St. Maarten was praised for taking the initiative to add it in their constitution.
She said there was a lot of vetting and discussions that took place prior to October 2006 and another one was available after the RTC meeting in December 2008. That draft was available in January 2009.
Government she said also changed the constitution to have country St. Maarten with a two year and balanced budget. Another concern for the Democratic Party is the fact the document is in the Dutch language which limits the input of the people. She said for 2009 nothing was done with the constitution and now government is pressed with time now that 10/10/10 is almost here.
