PHILIPSBURG--Almost a year after the Constitutional Court threw out the law passed by Parliament to establish an integrity chamber for the country, Members of Parliament (MPs) are to sit in a Central Committee session to discuss the verdict of the Court on Friday at 10:00am in Parliament House.

 

The legislature has discussed at length, before and since the law was adopted in 2015 and discarded in July 2016, the need for an integrity chamber and the intervention by the Dutch Kingdom Government to force the establishment of one, but there has been nothing so far on the verdict itself.

 

Parliament Chairwoman MP Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party) said on Monday in a press conference it was time to talk about the verdict. Government has been asked and has granted permission for civil servants from the Department of Legal Affairs to brief Parliament on the verdict.

 

Parliament Advisor Attorney Ralph Richardson will also be present for the discussion.

 

Also on Parliament’s agenda for this meeting week are video conferences in preparation for the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation IPKO. The consultation was slated for May 29, but a new date has to be decided on by all parties due to upcoming elections in Aruba.

 

MPs will meet in a Central Committee session on Wednesday, starting at 2:00pm, with members of Independence for St. Martin Foundation on its petition for a new referendum on the constitutional future for the country.

 

On the following day, MPs will again sit in a Central Committee meeting at 2:00pm. This time the sitting will be with Finance Minister Richard Gibson Sr. He will table for discussion draft law changes aimed at harmonizing legislation related to supervision of financial organizations. In the minister’s package is also a draft ordinance related to money courier companies.

 

Wescot-Williams informed the press she is still awaiting an answer from Government about whether or not it has sent a response to the Dutch Parliament about its position on the Kingdom law that changed the Kingdom charter. That law makes it no longer possible for the Dutch Kingdom Government, in most cases, not to issue Kingdom decrees (instructions) without a basis stemming from the charter.

 

The MP is still pursuing draft initiative laws in several areas including the establishment of a timeshare authority, the banning of single use plastic bags and changes to the electoral ordinance.

 

Putting in place of a Code of Conduct for MPs and changes to the Rules of Order of Parliament are also in her scope. One aspect of the rules she intends to tackle it putting in place of a formal structure for MPs to report absences due to illness and other reasons.

 

The Daily Herald