THE HAGUE--The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament wants clarity on the upcoming snap elections in St. Maarten and whether these elections will indeed be taking place.

 

The Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations decided during a procedural meeting on Wednesday that it wants an update from Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk on this issue.

 

Member of the Second Chamber Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) said there were too many questions as to whether the new St. Maarten Government, headed by William Marlin of the National Alliance (NA) would stick to the national decree to have elections on February 9, 2016.

 

Members of the new St. Maarten Government have hinted that the holding of elections on February 9 is not a given. Leader of the St. Maarten Democratic Party (DP) Sarah Wescot-Williams indicated earlier that there was “sufficient reason” to annul the dissolution decree, signed by Governor Eugene Holiday on October 28. The new Prime Minister William Marlin didn’t exclude last week that the elections would be held at another date.

 

Van Raak qualified the discussion on the election date as a “fundamental issue” which required a clear position of the Kingdom. “What is the role of the Kingdom in this matter? Minister Plasterk says he has no role to play as it concerns an internal, autonomous matter,” said Van Raak, who indicated that he wanted a letter from the Minister on this specific issue.

 

Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA repeated his call for honest,

transparent elections on St. Maarten. He asked whether the St. Maarten Government would be arranging external, independent observers to supervise the elections and related procedures such as the distribution of voting cards and a solid monitoring of the election regulations.

 

Van Raak agreed that this external supervision was necessary. “I wonder if the new Government who was eager to get in the driver’s seat will truly make an effort for honest and decent elections. I see a role for the Kingdom in this,” he said.

 

The Kingdom Relations Committee also agreed during Wednesday’s meeting to invite all parties involved on the discussion of the future and the pollution of Curaçao’s Isla refinery for a meeting. This meeting will probably take place in January next year.

 

The Committee recently received a letter from the Foundation Clean Environment SMOC in Curaçao in which the Foundation asked for a meeting to discuss the refinery’s pollution. The Government of Curaçao has also asked for a meeting with the Committee.

 

The Daily Herald