~ MPs told change was due to logistics ~
PHILIPSBURG--"Undemocratic" is how National Alliance (NA) leader/Member of Parliament (MP) William Marlin has described a change to the programme for the Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Kingdom Affairs Conference after a vote was taken on the matter in the Central Committee meeting on Friday.
Marlin wrote to President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell on Monday to state that he strongly objected to the procedure used to amend the programme to convert the closing dinner/cultural show planned for Thursday evening to a closing lunch/cultural show on Friday.
"The issue isn't so much whether the event should be held on Thursday or Friday, or if it should be a dinner or a lunch," Marlin said in the letter, a copy of which was provided to the press. The issue is that "a majority" in Friday's Central Committee meeting voted seven to three to have the closing event be on Thursday.
The vote became necessary after Arrindell and Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Kingdom Affairs Chairman MP Roy Marlin couldn't reach agreement on a day and time of the event, William Marlin added. The vote resulted in the majority ? seven of the 10 MPs present ? voting for the event to be on Thursday and three for it on Friday.
"We want to further propose that this matter be dealt with properly, through consultation with all members of Parliament, after which a decision is taken by the majority of Parliament," Marlin wrote.
Arrindell and Roy Marlin could not be reached for comment on the issue.
MPs were notified about the change by Parliament Secretary-General Jozef Semeleer via e-mail on Saturday.
In his email Semeleer stated: "After discussing the proposal with MP Roy Marlin ... and the Tourism Office, it was decided that due to logistics and time schedule, the programme will be slightly amended." The e-mail further explained the change from Thursday evening to Friday midday.
William Marlin added in his letter that the change as communicated in the e-mail was "against the basic principles of democracy," because no two MPs could change a decision made by the majority of Parliament. "We cannot allow this practice to continue, as it is undemocratic and against the principles of good governance," he said in the letter.
He recalled a similar situation of changed schedule that involved Roy Marlin that had occurred last year. He said the Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Affairs Committee had not been willing to meet with Dutch Parliament fraction leaders on a Saturday morning and a letter had been sent to the fraction leaders informing them of the committee's suggestion to meet on the Friday or Monday.
Roy Marlin, as committee chairman, "took it upon himself to unilaterally change the decision of the majority of the committee and decided to still meet with the fraction leaders on the Saturday. We therefore recognise a habit to this way of operating, which is against the basic principles of democracy," said William Marlin.
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