PHILIPSBURG--The process to form the new government, which took office officially on Tuesday, took 99 days, according to the calculations of returning Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina.
During his first speech after being sworn in again as Prime Minister on Tuesday, Mercelina said of the 99 days, as formateur he used 28 days. The other 71 days were used by the public prosecutor, the Security Services of St. Maarten VDSM and the governor.
He stressed that the screening process is not transparent enough. “While the perception is that it is the formateur who has full control of the formation process, the current procedures involve many more stakeholders,” he said.
“To start with, based on the national decree and the current practices, the prosecutor general and the Security Services of St. Maarten VDSM are the official institutions, which carry out the screening of candidate ministers. Next, his excellency the governor has the authority to request clarification, based on the information provided by the candidate ministers. The formateur has no role in this screening process, other than functioning as the intermediary between the public prosecutor, the VDSM, and the governor on one side and the candidate ministers on the other side, since all requested information goes via the formateur,” he noted.
“One of the concerns is that the screening process is not transparent enough. I am not aware of the internal processes of the public prosecutor and the VDSM, and therefore cannot speak to their screening process,” he said.
Given the 99 days the formation process took, 71 of which were used by the public prosecutor, the VDSM and the governor, the prime minister said it is clear why the subject of electoral reform and the screening process of candidate ministers has been one of concern for years.
“As I mentioned in my first official speech as Prime Minister of this country, the formalisation of the formation process is needed and as such, I considered this reform as one of my first priorities. Steps have already been taken to formalise this process. It is my goal to ensure that our autonomous right and the democratic will of our people to form a government is not infringed upon,” he said.
