Former Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin
PHILIPSBURG–The Council of Ministers will be retracting its approval for dismissed former Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin to attend three events abroad including a Summit in the Netherlands in mid-November.
Caretaker Prime Minister Wycliffe Smith said on Wednesday that Romeo-Marlin was invited to two conferences to be held in Dominica mid-October, one on disaster management and the other on addressing transparency standards.
The third event was the Nexus Europe Summit in the Netherlands in November. He said both the October conferences as well as the November Summit were mostly to be covered by the organisations that invited the former Prime Minister and a part by Romeo-Marlin herself. “This meant that St. Maarten in no way directly or indirectly would have paid for this trip,” Smith said during the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday.
“At the time, we were aware of the caretaker status of the Council of Ministers and saw her attending the various events as no issue in terms of her status as caretake Prime Minister. So, on October 8, the Council of Ministers voted against then Prime Minister’s request for her resignation to be effective and a decision was taken to allow her to attend the October and November conferences. It should be understood that any active minister must have the approval of the Council of Minsters for travel and engagements that reflect on their role in the Government,” he said.
PM Smith further explained, “However, two days later on October 10, 2019, then Prime Minister Romeo-Marlin made another request for her release from the duties as Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs and gave her reasons. The decision was taken by the Council of Ministers to accept the resignations of both then Prime Minister Marlin-Romeo and then Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever. This decision was based on their request to leave immediately to prevent further political turmoil.”
He said as a result of their release from ministerial duties, the approval granted by the Council of Ministers to Romeo-Marlin will be retracted. “This was noted last week. However, due to travels of (Finance) Minister (Perry) Geerlings, we will be voting in the next Council of Ministers meeting to retract this decision. The retraction is based on the fact that Mrs Romeo-Marlin is no longer Prime Minister. She has returned to her duties as a civil servant and not just a “private citizen” as stated by (National Alliance) MP (Member of Parliament William) Marlin.”
According to Smith, with her returning to this status, the procedure for request to travel for the conference is now different. “As a civil servant, she is now required to request days, not from the Council of Ministers, but rather from the Secretary General of the Ministry of General Affairs. I have been in touch with Mrs. Romeo-Marlin on this matter.
Smith had said in a press release issued prior to the press briefing that Romeo-Marlin has been apprised of this approach and she is busy reporting to and consulting with the Secretary General. “A decision is to be made on her vacation request, pertaining to her return to the civil apparatus and her role in the apparatus moving forward,” the release had stated.
William Marlin, the Chairperson of Parliament, had expressed concern about the approval for travel for the dismissed Prime Minister and has since sent a letter to Smith with questions on the matter.
Smith said he received the queries for information from Marlin via the Secretariat of Parliament on Tuesday night and he will be responding to the queries. Smith said he wanted to set the record straight so that information is factual and not misconstrued in any manner or as the MP stated, assumed in any fashion as well.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/91758-smith-approval-for-leona-to-attend-three-overseas-events-to-be-retracted
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