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Published On: Mon, Oct 3rd, 2016

HOPE: The Elected Parliament members of St. Maarten need to be strengthened with Good Governance principles training

hope

Dear Editor,

HOPE congratulates all the elected representatives to be sworn in as Members of Parliament and wishes them and the new to be sworn in ministers, much strength in their endeavors to govern our Island in the direction of sustainable development. We hope that all decision-making will be done through the good governance principles, in dialogue with the people and taking into account the regional and international development realities.

The Parliament (the Legislative branch of government) is autonomous from the government (the ministers or executive branch) and has the task to make and amend laws (legislation) and also has the monitoring task (thus, to check if the ministers are executing their tasks well). So to speak, the role of Parliament is to, inter alia, exercise oversight of the government and hold ministers accountable for their management. Ministers are answerable to Parliament. The government (ministers) holds power as long as it holds the confidence of Parliament.

HOPE will be happy if this formation (NA-UP, which clearly has gotten the mandate of the people), will guarantee a much more stable government, which will last the full four years. This is an important condition to be able to reach sustainable development. An unstable government brings an unstable economy with has devastating consequences for us all.

Forming a stable majority coalition is one remedy, but still much more needs to be done to ensure a stable government. HOPE thinks that a full training of the elected Members of Parliament is highly needed. Right when entering office, they should get all the necessary skills to be able to carry out their mandate properly and to function on a high level and represent St. Maarten with dignity and respect. We see as a minimum the following to be incorporated in the training of our MP’s in the first place:

  • How Parliament functions in a proper manner, inclusive the code of conduct – the house rules of law and order.
  • The function and a better functioning of our law system, inclusive how to write proposals to amend laws or come up with new effective laws.
  • Argumentative-skills need to be incorporated for MP’s to be able to explain and defend the proposals/amendments in the right context.
  • The function and functioning of our judicial system, the history, culture and heritage of St. Maarten.

To be effective as Parliament member, it is a must to continuously sensitize with the people of St. Maarten in the first place and to touch base the results thereof with the ministers. Basic ‘development’ training and a full good governance training is a must, so all the MP’s can understand the words behind terminologies as fair conduct of elections, representation and participation, responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness, transparency, the rule of law and ethical conduct. The need to know that innovation, openness to change and long-term orientation as well as sound financial management and adhering to human rights are important elements to reach sustainability for our country.

MP’s need to understand the dimensions of cultural diversity and social cohesion to be able to govern well. The people of St. Maarten will hold the MP’s accountable for their functioning. We hope that the MP’s will be held accountable, based on their competences, capacity in a better functioning of the legislative branch of government.

The ministers on the other hand have the public service (civil servants) within the 7 ministries to advise government on policy matters, implement government policy and monitor the effectiveness and impacts of policy. They not only make policy, but also monitor and evaluate policies for effectiveness and efficiency. The Minister of General Affairs (Prime Minister) has the responsibility of coordination and cooperation between the ministries.

We hope that within short, our governor, who plays a role in the formation of the government, including the appointment of the formateur, will be able to appointment the new ministers, to form a stable government.

Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt,
Leader of HOPE

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