Advertisement
PHILIPSBURG – A dispute between Suëna Laville-Martis and Prime Minister Luc Mercelina op January 7 and the subsequent actions of governor Ajamu Baly has resulted in a legal advice from constitutional expert Arjen van Rijn that is devastating for the governor.
Laville-Martis had a dispute with Mercelina on January 7. The prime minister first took disciplinary measures and later Laville-Martis, chef of the cabinet at the ministry of Public Health (VSA) was suspended.
The national decree to suspend her was submitted to Governor Baly on January 13. Instead of signing the decree, the governor requested a meeting of the Council of Ministers three day later. He explicitly forbade PM Mercelina nd VSA-Minister Richinel Brug to be present. The governor said that it was within his authority to attend the meeting in an advisory role. The Council of Ministers decided not to effectuate the decree.
Th ministers also asked the national security service to investigate the matter, but the department refused, saying it has no authority to do so. Instead, the law office of Hoeve and Rogers wrote an advice.
The Council of Ministers meeting continued on January 16, but PM Mercelina and Minister Brug were not informed about it. In this meeting the ministers withdrew the disciplinary measures against Laville-Martis and they dismissed her suspension.
In his advice, Van Rijn points out that the governor has the right to be consulted, to warn and to encourage. This prevents ministers from taking measures that are at odds with the interests of the kingdom. The role of the governor is however limited: the opinion of ministers always prevails, Van Rijn wrote in his advice.
He furthermore established that, as the representative of the kingdom, the governor protects the rights and the interests of the kingdom. But the governor’s authorities are limited: he abused his authority by banning the prime minister and minister Brug from attending a meeting of the Council of Ministers and with his active participation in meetings of the Council he “crossed a red line.”
The rules of order that govern the Council of Ministers contain no provision that allows the governor to attend their meetings.. “By attending twice a meeting of the Council on his own initiative the governor crossed a line,” Van Rijn states in his advice. “There is at least the impression that the political primate and that the authority of the prime minister has been undermined. From the perspective of constitutional and democratic hygiene, this is completely unacceptable.”
Van Rijn concludes his advice with the suggestion that ministers enter into conversation with the governor to set clean boundaries for future situations.
###
ADVERTISEMENT
