The cat is out of the bag. While some still doubt whether it’s possible to effectively tackle so-called “ship-jumping” by Members of Parliament (MPs) and its consequences within the
principles of St. Maarten’s parliamentary democracy, the William Marlin Cabinet came up with an idea whereby only legislative fractions of political parties that ran in the last election may participate in the forming of governments (see Thursday paper).
The proposal means elected representatives are still free to “go independent” and retain their seats, but then cannot be counted as part of a different majority that backs and nominates a new Council of Ministers. While some no doubt find it ironic that the current NA/DP/USP/Lake/Matser coalition never would have been a reality under those circumstances, it’s about the future rather than the past.
For the system to work, a legislator obviously shouldn’t be able to break with his or her party and right away join another to form a new government either. In addition, any adjustments made must regulated in a crystal-clear and unambiguous manner so there is no confusion over their exact interpretation.
The suggested “seat-return guarantee” for an elected representative who becomes a Minister instead, should he/she lose that post, is interesting, because more of the main leaders and biggest vote-getters then might opt to join the Executive Branch and actually govern the country as most people expect them to. Of course, it would be a far less secure prospect for the parliamentarians replacing them.
The plan to have campaign materials removed 48 hours before the vote and to prohibit gatherings outside the polling stations sounds reasonable enough, although forbidding people to wear party T-shirts inside seems a bit far-reaching. One also must take into account that candidates with ample financial means still can get their message across on the last two pre-election days, via media advertising.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle is obtaining full backing for these changes from the current coalition itself, as two of its eight members recently “jumped ship” and a third did the same in the former legislative term before establishing his own party. Should the Constitution need to be amended, for which a two-thirds majority is required, the degree of difficulty will increase greatly, but whatever is decided the electorate will be watching closely.
