The ongoing discussion with the Netherlands on an Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten is seemingly coming to a head (see related story). The backup plan to impose one by General Measure of Kingdom Governance is reportedly on the agenda of Friday’s Kingdom Council of Ministers session.
Indications are that Prime Minister William Marlin will travel to The Hague to again meet with Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk on Thursday. The two recently spoke about the issue in Aruba, but afterwards said only that they were still talking.
It now appears they have been unable to bridge their differences, although the Prime Minister’s visit could conceivably provide a last-minute breakthrough. One should keep in mind that the Government in Philipsburg did present legislation to establish such a Chamber which was passed by Parliament too.
However, the National Ordinance was subsequently reviewed by the Constitutional Court at the request of Ombudsman Nilda Arduin and struck down because certain aspects were deemed in contravention of the rights to privacy and a fair trial. This meant going back to the drawing board with the law and advice was requested from, among others, Legal Affairs.
The Marlin Cabinet also made clear that it did not wholeheartedly support continuing with the matter and instead wanted to work on strengthening existing checks and balances in the country. This obviously did not sit well with the Dutch Government.
Perhaps an alternative proposal for the Chamber expected to withstand the court’s scrutiny can yet be presented to preclude an instruction. That would probably be the best possible scenario for both parties involved, because any regulations that don’t comply with the ruling will probably be frowned on by the Council of State as well.
