PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Over the weekend it was announced that Members of Parliament Heyliger-Marten, Wescot-Williams and Duncan have submitted a request for a central committee meeting of Parliament to receive an update from government on government’s trajectory for electoral reform.
In explaining this request, MP Wescot stated that several members of parliament have not only been clamoring to get a sense from government where electoral reform stands presently, but also to hear whether government is actually doing something regarding the much touted reform.
“In addition there are several proposals from members of parliament at government, and while government has alluded to these proposals and government’s initial support for proposals such as removal of the black curtains, candidates’ declarations as part of a political party, a more tamper proof ballot system, no tangible actions are evident.”
“We know that the government has conducted a survey and announced public sessions on the topic of electoral reform, but there is no evidence of urgency.”
Parliament has also finally requested proposals for the drafting of legislation in areas identified by parliament as part of the reform of several laws that regulate components of electoral reform, such as the position of political parties in our system, ship jumping, ministerial responsibility, dissolution of parliament, suspension of MPs, remuneration and amount of parliamentary seats etc. MP Wescot further explained.
However, it remains critical that the efforts on parliamentary and executive levels be synchronized as much as possible, in order to save time and resources, the MP stated.
“We therefore have requested a meeting of the central committee meeting of parliament with the Prime Minister to hear where government stands on electoral reform and what has been achieved in this area since we last heard from the Prime Minister.
We hope that our request will be honored and that this meeting will take place shortly, the MPs concluded.
