SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) – On Thursday, April 25th, 2019, the Government represented by Deputy Prime Minister Wycliff Smith and his support staff together with Parliament represented by eight Members of Parliament, unanimously approved the National Ordinance to accept the “Initiative Kingdom Law” of the former Member of the Second Chamber Roelof Van Laar, which amends articles 14 and 38 of the Charter of the Kingdom.
This amendment is significant as it calls for an end to the discretionary power of the Kingdom Government to issue Kingdom Decrees without a legal basis in a Kingdom Law. This constitutional principle counts already for the Governments of all the four countries of the Kingdom, but not for the Kingdom Government.
Prime Minister Romeo Marlin said, “Although I was unable to attend the Parliament meeting on that day due to other obligations abroad. It gives me great pride to acknowledge that four members of the opposition joined with four members of the coalition to form the necessary quorum of eight, to vote unanimously approving the National Ordinance. The National Ordinance had to be approved by at least two third of the votes in Parliament.
“Going forward, I hope that Sint Maarten with the same spirit of unity and determination shown in Parliament can convince the Members of the Second Chamber that the draft Dispute Regulation presented by the Kingdom Government is not a real dispute regulation. What has been presented thus far is simply a reshuffling of the same inequality between Holland and the three Dutch Caribbean countries,” said Prime Minister Romeo Marlin.
Together, the Parliament of Sint Maarten, and those of Aruba and Curacao, have to do everything in their power to convince the majority of the Second Chamber to choose for equal law and justice in this matter, and not for the maintenance of the discretionary political power of the Kingdom Government over the Caribbean countries.
Source: Souliga Newsday https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php/local/soualiga-news-today/item/25362-romeo-marlin-commends-parliament-for-approving-the-“initiative-kingdom-law-of-van-laar”.html
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