Some have suggested that once the resignation of Public Health, Social Affairs and Labour Minister Emil Lee takes effect someone should make room for him in Parliament, because he was one of the originally elected representatives. His becoming a minister allowed “next in line” among the United Democrats (UD) candidates Tamara Leonard to occupy one of the party’s seven seats instead.
However, there is no rule about elected MPs who join the executive branch of government somehow reserving the right to their seat should they cease being a minister. That is part of the risk one takes when becoming a public administrator, as others left “outside looking in” this way have experienced.
On the other hand, local candidates are allotted seats based on votes they receive and not their number on the ballot as is the case in other parts of the Dutch Caribbean, so that does come into play. It also happened once before, when National Alliance (NA) leader William Marlin got back into Parliament because Rodolphe Samuel voluntarily gave up his seat.
The same could also occur now, of course, but there is a different twist. UD leader Theo Heyliger, the only one in the election to earn his seat outright with personal votes, was suspended, so Jules James was brought in as deputy according to the constitution.
This has also been based on his being “next in line” in terms of votes received. The argument could thus be made that if Leonard were to move aside for Lee, James should in turn do so for her.
These things can be agreed on beforehand within political parties, but not even a signed contract takes precedence over the laws of the land, so enforcement in case of non-compliance would always be difficult at best. The people involved simply need to do what they think is right and fair.
To be honest, who is minister or parliamentarian is currently of less importance than dealing with the burning issues at hand, such as rebuilding the airport, saving the hospital project and related early funding for St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), reducing arrears to Social and Health Insurance SZV as well as General Pension Fund APS, tackling the dump and waste management, realising the Cole Bay sewage plant, improving public finances to balance the budget and further restoring the tourism economy that makes it all possible.
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