During its session of January 26, the Territorial Council (CT) of Saint-Martin voted to delegate certain powers to the Executive Council (EC) for a new year. This decision aims to optimize the functioning of the administration while maintaining the essential prerogatives of the CT.
The skills transferred concern the execution of the budget, the management of subsidies and disputes, as well as administrative procedures such as public contracts or agreements.
However, strategic areas such as the overall budget, local referendums and tax regulations remain under the exclusive authority of the CT.
The debate revealed divergences: Alain Richardson (1st VP) underlined the balance of this measure, which reinforces administrative efficiency while involving elected officials.
Daniel Gibbs and other opposition members have expressed concerns about the risk of a lack of transparency and collegiality.
They demanded safeguards, including better access to the agendas and minutes of the CE. Despite the criticism, the resolution was adopted by 16 votes for and 7 against.
After the intervention of the deputy Frantz Gumbs who declared that “this story of delegation is a cover to camouflage the problem”, the president Louis Mussington undertook to examine the technical aspects, in particular the quorum (= minimum number of members present so that the executive council can validly deliberate as is the case for the CT), to improve the functioning and transparency of future decisions. _VX
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