The chairman of the executive and island councils of St. Maarten, Governor Franklyn Richards, calls for an urgent resolving of the present political situation on St. Maarten. He also urges the subsequent formation of a yet to be formed, new daily government within the shortest possible time.
Governor Richards believes that such is in the best interest of the people of the island. He believes that it would benefit good governance, transparency in government and an organized continuation of the daily running of government affairs.
The chairman of the executive and island councils is of the strong opinion that the people of the island do not deserve the actual situation.
He is of the opinion that apparent maneuvering and indecisiveness by political figures on St. Maarten, even up to and including the weekend, threatens the island territory with being moved closer to higher supervision as the only viable remaining alternative to safeguard the governability of the island.
As such, he is convinced that the present state of affairs and suspected lack of seriousness and commitment on the part of some, responsible for the present situation, cannot be allowed to continue.
The chairman of the councils opted not to comment earlier on the matter, wanting to allow parties involved to pursue a resolution to the situation. The past week was, however, clouded by more uncertainties and it is hoped that, very soon, the situation shall return to normal.
With the aforementioned in mind, Richards welcomes statements attributed to at least one faction in the island council, which indicates that it is now ready to proceed with the formation of a government, supported by a majority in the island council.
There are no legal mechanisms for a role to be played by the governor of the island territory in the formation process of a new government.
In reviewing the developments which had led to the present situation, it is to be recalled that on November 6 last, island council member and commissioner, Mr. Louie Laveist, informed his faction that he would continue as an independent member of the island council and executive council. Mr. Laveist indicated that he also wished to retain his executive council seat.
With the withdrawing of Laveist’s support for his faction, this in essence means that the ruling Democratic Party loses its majority in the island council.
The constellation is thus, at the moment, 5 seats for the Democratic Party, 5 seats for the National Alliance and 1 seat held by councilman and commissioner Laveist.
The position of councilman Laveist with regards to his position in the executive council is, of course, not a usual one.
It is not standard practice that a member of the executive council remains his seat as a commissioner, yet playing an inactive role.
With the appointment of commissioners comes the dividing of portfolios and with that, the expectation that each commissioner is responsible for one or more portfolios.
The portfolios of Commissioner Laveist were recently redistributed and he has apparently not opted to demand that the portfolios be returned to him.
It is also customary that commissioners attend executive council meetings and exercise their voting right.
Taking the above into consideration, the situation surrounding the eventual role to be played by Mr. Laveist, as a member of the executive council, remains unclear.
The position taken by Mr. Laveist with regards to his inactive role is highly undesirable and may be construed as going against the spirit and principles of our democratic system.
Members of the executive council are, collectively, responsible for the decisions of the executive councils. As long as one is formally a member of the executive council, one’s presence is required. As the commissioner in question has withdrawn his support for the present DP-led government, this has left him no other option than to resign as a member of the present executive council.
In the event that this does not occur, the island council has the option to table a motion of no-confidence against him and subsequently go over to the dismissal procedure.
This procedure is based on article 50a of the island regulations Netherlands Antilles (ERNA).
Finally it should be noted, that in the event that the executive council resigns, the members of the executive council would individually have to tender their resignations.
In such a situation, members of the executive council continue handling responsibilities associated with their portfolios, pending appointment of new commissioners, as called for in article 52 of the ERNA.