Who said 10-10-10 – the date for St. Maarten's and Curaçao's attainment of status as separate countries within the Dutch Kingdom – was carved in stone?

During Friday's celebrations at the signing of the Philipsburg Accord paving the way for the formation of the new and expectedly last government of the Netherlands Antilles, that seemed to be the case.

However, all that seems to have changed dramatically with the collapse of the Dutch Government, judging from comments by politicians here in the Netherlands Antilles and in Holland since then.

Even before the collapse, some Dutch politicians seemed to be pursuing a policy that bordered on being dilatory. Now that the political landscape has been altered dramatically, they are likely to be even more strident in theEir approach. Already cries such as "everything is renegotiable" and "everything is now off the table – including the debt reorganisation" are coming from within the Second Chamber.

There are also suggestions about a delay of up to about 14 months.

But even in the midst of the apparent willingness to pull the proverbial rug from under the governments within the Netherlands Antilles in their thrust for new constitutional statuses, there is no need for our political leaders here in the Netherlands Antilles to despair.

Given the advanced state of the preparations for 10-10-10 anchored in several agreements, including the November 2, 2006, Final Declaration and the September 30, 2009, agreement setting the date, a strong case can be made that the constitutional reform process is indeed "current business" which the Dutch Parliament and the current caretaker government are authorised to handle.

Against this backdrop, we suggest that rather than throwing up their hands in despair, or simply doing nothing, the Netherlands Antilles' leaders should show some spunk and make a concerted effort to convince the Dutch caretaker government to deal with the issue of constitutional reform as important current business.

We suggest further that, if necessary, consideration be given to assembling and dispatching a high-power broad-based delegation of government leaders and stakeholders' representatives to The Hague to meet with and present the Netherlands Antilles' case to the caretaker government and other politicians.

Surely, ensuring that what boils down to the giving of substance to the people's long-expressed desire for new statuses within the Dutch kingdom is something worth fighting for.

Whatever happens, our political leaders who have been guilty of not having consistently pursued the task at hand with the deftness, single-mindedness and, sometimes, even the candour that it deserved should ensure that there is no slackening in the momentum of the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles and in their preparations for the new statuses for the five island territories.

In fact, the developments over the weekend should serve as a powerful incentive to expedite and finalise the preparations.