President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.
PHILIPSBURG--President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has called for renewed examination of whether St. Maarten’s current constitutional arrangements are suitable for a small island developing state.
She made the remarks during her December 10 address at InterExpo 2025 in The Hague. Her presentation was well received and contributed to broader discussions on kingdom relations, governance, and sustainable development.
Wescot-Williams said 15 years after St Maarten became a constituent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the core issue is not only constitutional structure but constitutional fitness, especially when uniform frameworks are applied to countries with vastly different scales and vulnerabilities. She said that small island states face limited administrative capacity, high operating expenses and heightened sensitivity to external shocks, making one-size-fits-all governance models inadequate.
She highlighted concerns about persistent hierarchical power dynamics in the Kingdom and financial supervision structures that she said focus more on control than development. She added that Caribbean countries continue to have limited influence over areas such as foreign affairs and defence, despite their autonomous status.
Wescot-Williams pointed to the absence of a shared Kingdom budget for joint responsibilities as a structural weakness and said scale limitations continue to challenge public services including healthcare, education, justice, and regulatory systems. She called for practical, collaborative solutions that recognise these constraints. She also stressed the right to development, encouraging a shift from debates centred on decolonization toward development focused on capacity building, resilience, and institutional strengthening.
She said that a modern Kingdom relationship requires partnership and reciprocity, combining continued governance reform in St. Maarten with inclusive and impartial engagement from Kingdom institutions. She said fairness requires equitable measures rather than equal treatment.
She also underscored the significant role women play in governance and development across the Kingdom.
Wescot-Williams concluded by outlining a vision rooted in justice, partnership, proportionality, and Caribbean-centred governance. She called for a Kingdom relationship grounded in fairness, responsibility, and mutual respect.
