Screening

People with a reputation to hold up will think twice before they accept an invitation to become a minister if the current screening procedure does not change. That’s the sentiment we picked up from yesterday’s press conference of the United St. Maarten party.

It is indeed time to examine the screening criteria, to tighten them were necessary and to adjust them where they become unfair.

USp-leader Frans Richardson’s suggestion to limit the screening to a (at this moment unspecified) number of years into the past makes sense. Another idea – that candidate ministers only have to give up their business interests within three months after they have been appointed – also seems fair, though maybe the timeframe should be somewhat shorter.

The (currently non-existing) possibility to appeal findings by the national security service VDSM should also be regulated, though in a country where screening results so quickly become public knowledge it is understandable that the VDSM wants to hold on to its right to protect its sources.