PHILIPSBURG--Two “professional” commissioners will be added to the current St. Maarten Executive Council in February to help with the heavy workload associated with preparing for country status and the seven ministries that will come into being as of 10-10-10.
Constitutional Affairs Minister Roland Duncan (NA) will present the law on the expansion of the Executive Council and Island Council of St. Maarten to the Council of Ministers on Thursday.
Duncan told The Daily Herald the Legal Affairs Department had completed the draft law last week. After approval by the cabinet this week, the draft goes to Parliament, where Duncan hopes it will be signed off on in February.
The draft law provides for the number of commissioners in the Executive Council to be increased from five to seven, matching the number of ministries that will be established for Country St. Maarten.
However, the two additional commissioners cannot be members of the Island Council. Therefore, the National Alliance (NA)/Heyliger government will have to appoint two “professional” commissioners (vakgedeputeerden) who will not be able to vote in the Island Council, but will have full rights and responsibilities in the Executive Council.
The professional commissioners will be like Finance Commissioner Xavier Blackman, who was appointed as “vakgedeputeerde” in June 2009, when the NA/Heyliger coalition took office. They can be appointed as soon as the law has been adopted by the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles and published in the official Gazette.
Another part of the draft law deals with the expansion of the Island Council of St. Maarten from 11 members to 15, matching the size of the Parliament for Country St. Maarten, the minister said.
This expansion will become effective after the next Island Council election, which should take place around June/July as a precursor to country status. Duncan explained that the next election would be an early one for the Island Council, because this is due in April 2011.
The draft legislation also provides for the dissolution of the Island Councils of the five island territories, an arrangement not provided for under the Islands Regulation ERNA. A Kingdom Consensus Law also regulating this early dissolution is before Parliament for handling.
The 15-member Island Council will later evolve into the Parliament of Country St. Maarten, because the elections will take place before country status is attained.
Yet another area covered in the draft law is the adoption of the constitutions of Country St. Maarten and Country Curaçao by the existing Island Councils in the coming months.
A two-thirds majority will be needed to adopt the constitutions. Should this quota not be reached, the current Island Council would have to be dissolved to allow even earlier elections. The newly-elected council would then have the authority to pass the constitution with a simple majority.
This mechanism to facilitate the passing of the constitution has been built into the law especially for Curaçao, because there are issues there about the way the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles and the entire constitutional change process has been proceeding.
