MPs Doran, York, Ottley decry Parliamentary meeting delays

GREAT BAY--Members of Parliament Egbert Doran, Darryl York, and Omar Ottley on Thursday raised serious concerns about the growing backlog of parliamentary meetings, accusing the government of neglecting its duty to provide timely responses and accountability to the people of St. Maarten.

During Thursday’s sitting of Parliament, MP Doran described the ongoing delays as “political malpractice,” calling it unacceptable that Parliament continues to chase ministers for updates on critical legislative and policy matters.

“We have several meetings that are pending, the banking law, the dividend withholding tax, and even the one concerning the Central Bank,” Doran said. “It seems Parliament is constantly running behind ministers. This is a dangerous trend and a serious democratic deficit right here in this House. The people should not have to suffer for this political malpractice that is taking place.”

MP Doran also emphasized the need for ministers to ensure that replacement ministers are available when the assigned minister cannot attend, as required by the rules of order. "The 'vervangenregeling' is very clear. If a minister cannot attend, a replacement must be present. We must handle the people’s business,” he urged.

Echoing Doran’s sentiments, MP York criticized the extended delays in receiving written responses from ministries, citing several unanswered letters from as far back as May. “We have outstanding letters from May and September still not answered. These are straightforward questions, such as whether tax holidays have been granted or if conversations are ongoing. It should not take five to six months to get a reply,” York said, adding that such inaction erodes confidence in the legislative process.

MP Ottley, one of the co-signers of the request for a public meeting on the Central Bank, also called for urgent follow-up on key national issues. “As one of the co-signers on the request for the Central Bank meeting, I hope we can have this meeting as soon as possible. It was submitted as an urgent public meeting,” Ottley stated. “We also need to resume the GEBE meeting. People are growing frustrated. I was listening to the radio today, and people are getting on bad. We need to find a way forward to address the GEBE and Central Bank situations.”

All three MPs agreed that the ongoing pattern of delays is undermining transparency and public trust. They called on Parliament’s leadership and the Council of Ministers to prioritize scheduling the outstanding meetings and ensure that ministers respect the legislature’s oversight role.

“The people of St. Maarten deserve answers,” MP Doran concluded.

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