Parliament concludes virtual IPKO meeting sessions
PHILIPSBURG -- This week, the Interparliamentary Kingdom meeting, IPKO, ended today, Thursday, June 11, 2020, with no decisions taken. Usually, a decision list is signed as part of the closing ceremony. Naturally, the meetings taking place in a virtual setting hampered this part of the conference. The live virtual meeting was spread across two days, June 10 and 11, and comprised of three sessions: the Cft, the Now, and the Future. The next IPKO meeting is scheduled for January 2021 in Aruba.
On June 10th and 11th, 2020, a delegation from the Parliament of Sint Maarten participated virtually in the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO) hosted by the Netherlands.
Delegations from the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao, and the Netherlands also participated.
The IPKO kicked off with a presentation from each country within the Kingdom concerning the state of their affairs. This was followed by discussions between the four parliamentary delegations about several topics in a series of sessions.
Session 1:
Decision making on liquidity support at the time of the COVID pandemic: How have the various Kingdom partners experienced the decision-making process? Exchange of views on each Kingdom partner's role and responsibility, taking into account the Kingdom Charter, including the supervisory role of the various parliaments concerning the supervisory role of the Cft/CAft.
Session 2:
Outlook short term: Restarting social and socio-economic life: possibilities, limitations, and best practices.
Session 3:
Outlook medium/long term: A discussion about restructuring (diversification) of economies and labor markets. This may include the importance of jointly agreed policy recommendations and real cooperation. What common perspective do parliaments want to make and what contribution they wish to make to this while respecting each other's mandate as a member of Parliament.
The Sint Maarten delegation partaking in the IPKO sessions consisted of the following members:
Mr. Rolando Brison President of Parliament, Delegation leader;
Mr. William V. Marlin, Chairman Committee of Kingdom Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations;
Mrs. Grisha S. Heyliger-Marten, Vice Chairlady Committee of Kingdom Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations;
Mr. Claudius A. Buncamper;
Mrs. Sarah A. Wescot-Williams
Ms. Melissa D. Gumbs
The Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO) sessions can be viewed on the following link: https://www.tweedekamer.nl/vergaderingen/livedebat/tilanuskamer
The Chairman of the Committee of Kingdom Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations, MP William V. Marlin gave a presentation, on behalf of the Sint Maarten delegation, on the recent developments on Sint Maarten including the latest developments in Parliament, reconstruction and ongoing projects and COVID-19, in the 2020 Virtual IPKO hosted by the Netherlands.
The Interparliamentary consultations concluded on Thursday, June 11, 2020. As mentioned before, the following IPKO will take place in Aruba in January 2021.
