The approval of the Kingdom Charter change by the Antillean Parliament (see Saturday paper) is yet another important step in the process to dismantle the Netherlands Antilles for St. Maarten and Curaçao to achieve autonomous country status within the Dutch Kingdom while the so-called BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba become special overseas public entities of the Netherlands.
That there was the required two-thirds majority backing for the charter amendment in the first reading also sends an important message to The Hague, where approval by the Second Chamber of Dutch Parliament is still needed to formalise the constitutional reforms. If a second reading had been necessary – in which a simple majority would have sufficed – it might have led to doubts about the kind of broad-based support that is certainly desirable with such an historical and far-reaching change.
Not only was the amendment passed with 17 votes in favour and only four against, but among those voting "yes" were members of the Curaçao opposition that had vehemently opposed the agreements made with the Netherlands in both that island's most recent referendum and the January elections for the Antillean Parliament. This indicates that also they have come to the conclusion that there is no way back.
The latter is indeed the case when one considers that Central Government tasks have already been transferred and the corresponding personnel made available to the respective Island Territories. That does not mean all is set for the new relations within the Dutch Kingdom to go into effect on 10-10-10 as planned, but reversing the current process is simply no longer possible.
A lot remains to be done, certainly, when it comes to St. Maarten, such as the correct follow-up to last week's visit of Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten to give The Hague confidence that the current problems regarding public finances and the budget indeed will be tackled in a responsible manner, so that the new country has a healthy starting position.
Just as important is the passage of various organic laws, as well as the approval of the social charter for the transfer of personnel of the Island Territory and Central Government working on the island to the administration of Country St. Maarten. The accompanying job offer letters for the actual transfers should have been presented to the public servants since last week Tuesday, August 10.
So with 10-10-10 fast approaching and the elections on September 17, the local political establishment has its work cut out for it to prepare country status. While the elections are historic and the campaign no doubt will grow in intensity as the days go by, it is crucial that parties – regardless of their heated election battles – continue to put their differences aside when it comes to this issue, so that the wish of the people expressed in a referendum already more than 10 years ago finally can be realised.
