PHILIPSBURG--Being given the chance to serve as a minister is not a right, it is an opportunity, caretaker Finance Minister Ardwell Irion said on Wednesday.
“We have a lot of, let’s say, frustration or even uncertainty within the public regarding the whole process of the swearing-in. All of us here already went through this process … that the current coalition is also experiencing. So, this isn’t a new process and it’s even … a little more hilarious [that – Ed.] the ones that are making the loudest noise, for example, in terms of the process being unfair – they’ve also been through this process already, especially one of the new leaders of the coalition,” Irion told reporters in response to a question regarding the appointment of ministers.
“We are elected to Parliament. That is our right. We are appointed as a minister – that is an opportunity. You are not entitled to be a minister. You get an opportunity to be a minister and that’s the difference and if there are certain things that would tarnish the reputation of the Council of Ministers, those things have to be taken into consideration in terms of integrity,” he explained.
He provided an example of why integrity needs to be upheld. “I can imagine, for example, me having the opportunity to be the Minister of Finance, for example, and then I have a 10-year backlog of taxes or I have never filed taxes for 10 years. How do I then hold others accountable? But then I am putting myself in a position.
“I’m not saying that is the case, but I am saying these are parts of the whole process of the swearing-in. These are parts of the integrity of going to be a minister.
“Last week I had an opportunity to meet and speak with the finance minister of Barbados and he actually told me, ‘You guys do it differently, you guys do it after the fact. We do this to get on a list to run.’ So, before you go on a list they check already with your taxes and all these different things. So, they do a pre-check before you get on a list to even run,” explained Irion.
Alluding to the press conference hosted by Chairperson of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams on Monday, Irion said the chair has been part of the most governments in the history of country St. Maarten – so the last 14 years. And the complaints didn’t start now, the complaints started since 2010. In fact, in every election result, in the swearing-in process there has always been at least one person, at least one individual, that had
issues with screening. So, the ones, especially the ones that are complaining, had an opportunity to fix it,” Irion said.
He said St. Maarten is without a screening law. “We are the only ones without a screening law. For the last four years [Members of Parliament] MPs had an opportunity to fix it. … Curaçao has a screening law. Aruba has a screening law. One of them says you can’t have a criminal record for five years and one has for 10 years. So, we have to establish what we want,” he said, adding that the country has to decide whether it wants a screening law and whether it wants to allow anyone to become a minister or whether it wants to put some accountability parameters in place.
“The fact of the matter is, we didn’t do it. So, it is in the process that we have now. And you signed the document to be screened. No one is forcing anyone to sign any document to be screened. You voluntarily signed this document, so now you have to live with the results,” said Irion.
