That St. Maarten and the Netherlands were able to reach agreement on the much-discussed Integrity Chamber (see related story) is in principle good news. Some may ask why it had to come to an impasse in the first place, but pending a Dutch kingdom dispute regulation the Council of State plays an important role in handling such differences.
The Hague’s threat of imposing a General Measure of Kingdom Governance is off the table at least for now, as parties work together on a National Ordinance that takes into account the Constitutional Court’s ruling rejecting the originally-adopted relevant legislation it reviewed on request of the Ombudsman.
The Council of Ministers in Philipsburg will promote having a new ordinance passed by Parliament and signed into law by the Governor on October 31 at the latest. A day later the result of these consultations is to be presented back to the Council of State’s dispute committee installed to handle this matter.
The idea is obviously to have the Integrity Chamber up and running before the end of the year. While it is true that nobody can speak for the legislature, the majority coalition supporting Government may be expected to cooperate with its intentions.
The main thing is to finally get the job done in a way that does not trample on fundamental rights of the people.
