WILLEMSTAD - Establishing a dispute regulation (geschillenregeling) for the Kingdom will be the number one topic for the St. Maarten delegation today, Tuesday, at the Kingdom Conference in Curaçao, said St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on Monday.

 

"We think that the agreement that the Parliaments of the Kingdom reached on the dispute regulation during the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO in The Hague last month was a good agreement and we hope that all parties at the Kingdom Conference will be ready and willing to reach a final settlement," Gumbs told The Daily Herald.

 

According to Gumbs, it was time for the Netherlands to show the willingness to work with the three other countries in the Kingdom, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, to reach an agreement as governments. "We have to address and solve this issue for once and for all. It is a matter that we have been talking about for over twenty years, as far as I know."

 

Gumbs said establishing a solid dispute regulation would have a positive effect on the Kingdom. "It would only help to strengthen the Kingdom to have such an entity which will help to solve the democratic deficit that has been adversely affecting our Kingdom."

 

Having a dispute regulation would also make the Kingdom look good abroad and contribute to a better understanding of the structure of the Kingdom in other countries in the world. "The rest of the world and the Caribbean don't understand our structure. How do you explain to others that you are an autonomous country but that the mother land can still intervene and that you can't go to the United Nations, the courts or anywhere with your objections to this intervention. That is not the proper way," he said.

 

"We are confident that we will reach an agreement. The Parliaments have already agreed on this, and as St. Maarten we are ready to further build on that. We expect everyone to go along at the Kingdom Conference," said Gumbs.

 

As for the format of the dispute regulation, he said that St. Maarten wanted a broad regulation where the countries could take all legal matters relating to the Kingdom Charter. St. Maarten also wants a separate entity, not a dispute regulation via the Council of State.

 

The Prime Minister said that in general, he had positive expectations about the Kingdom Conference which is held at the Santa Barbara Resort. "But of course we will have to wait until we get there. I can't predict the outcome."

 

St. Maarten has a six-member delegation at the conference. Besides Gumbs, there are Minister of Finance Martin Hassink, Chief of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Julien Larmonie, Secretary General of the Ministry of General Affairs, legal expert in the field of treaties Danaë Daal and Head of the Department of Youth Affairs Sherwin Powell-Richardson who is present for the part about the children's rights.

 

The Daily Herald