PHILIPSBURG--The National Alliance (NA) faction in parliament will table a motion to allow St. Maarten to set and regulate the salaries of Island Council members when the Duncan Law comes into effect.
The Duncan Law, an amendment to the Islands Regulation ERNA, deals with the expansion of St. Maarten's Island Council from 11 to 15 members and the Executive Council from five to seven, the possibility of dissolving the Island Council of St. Maarten and Curaçao to make it possible for early elections.
The amendment will be handled in the outgoing Antillean Parliament on March 24 - two days before the new parliament takes office.
NA leader Commissioner William Marlin told The Daily Herald that the law regulates the expansion of the council but does not regulate several matters including the issue of salaries.
Island Council members receive a stipend for their services and are allowed to also serve as commissioners. The amendment, however, is a step to abolishing this and moving to a dualistic system that separates the legislative branch (the Island Council) from the executive branch (the Executive Council).
Opposition Democratic Party (DP) raised concerns about this deficiency in the law during the meeting of the Permanent Committee for Constitutional Affairs (PCCA) on Thursday.
Marlin said for years St. Maarten's representatives had complained that the Central Government was making many decisions for the island and not the Island Council. The NA motion will make it possible for the decision on how to compensate legislators to come from the legislators themselves. They will decide on their salaries and benefits.
As for early elections, Marlin stayed away from naming a possible date but said that September would definitely be too late if St. Maarten is to attain country status on 10-10-10.
The earliest elections can be held after the Duncan Law passes is on June 24 because the voter register has to be closed off 60 days before Election Day. "This would only be possible if you have everything in place and ready on the same day the law is passed," the PCCA chairman said.
The PCCA meeting had a "little hiccup" when it started because DP realized that the draft Duncan Law its members had was not the same Constitutional Affairs Minister Roland Duncan (NA) was discussing.
The draft the minister had is the version before parliament and the one the PCCA had was the draft sent to the Executive Council in October 2009. This draft was perused and sent back to the Central Committee with no additions in January.
In the meantime, the draft has undergone several changes recommended by the Advisory Council, the Executive and Island Councils of Curaçao.
The correct draft was circulated to the Island Council members who comprise the PCCA. A "lively discussion" ensued that lasted about two hours, according to Marlin.
Also on the agenda were two points requested by DP.
One point was to get a reading on the mood in The Hague from the island's experts on the ongoing constitutional change process that will see St. Maarten become a country within the kingdom on 10-10-10.
The other was on St. Maarten's representation in The Hague when the draft Consensus Kingdom Laws are dealt with in the Dutch Parliament. Marlin said preparations are already being made for a delegation of technocrats and Island Council members to join the delegation from the Antillean Parliament in The Hague.
Parliament is the body that will be directly involved in the talks with their Dutch counterparts on these laws that make it possible for St. Maarten and Curaçao to become countries within the Kingdom.
