St. Maarten News – The kingdom government has serious objections to the proposed anti-ship jumping measures the Marlin cabinet has in mind. If the government does not address these objections, Minister Ronald Plasterk (Kingdom Relations) writes in a letter for Minister Plenipotentiary Henrietta Doran-York, “You will have to reckon with the possibility that the changes to the State regulation will meet with objections from the kingdom government.”
In gentle terms, the kingdom government has shot down the proposal before it has reached the parliament. “It seems advisable to the kingdom government that your government seeks other solutions for these problems. If you appreciate this, civil servants of my department will be pleased to think along about other solutions,” Plasterk states in the letter.
The kingdom government has sympathy for the attempts the government makes to promote the continuity of government. It appreciates that the government considers the regular ship jumping undesirable. That is where the support from the kingdom government stops: “There are serious legal and practical objections against the proposal under consideration,” Plasterk writes.
The kingdom government wonders whether the solution does not also create problems. “When a Member of Parliament has split, he would according to the proposal not be allowed to vote on the nomination of candidate-ministers. This creates the possibility that – after a government crisis – there is no majority in parliament for a nomination,” Plasterk wrote. “This means that it is not possible to appoint a new cabinet, while the incumbent cabinet is outgoing and also paralyzed because it no longer has the support of a majority in parliament. Such a situation is not conducive to the continuity of government.”
Kingdom government shoots reform proposals down
