As the magical 10-10-10 date for the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles draws ever closer, the road to get there is not becoming any easier to travel. The last of some 24 organic laws was passed in St. Maarten in the nick of time, the very day before the responsible commissioner's departure to prepare the Round Table Conference (RTC) in which the new relations within the Dutch Kingdom are to be confirmed.
The same thing goes for the draft constitution of country Curaçao, which was passed by a majority in that island's recently elected Island Council during its first day in office, even though two of the three parties that are in the new Executive Council voted against it. Not only that, but the current MFK/PS/MAN majority at the same time passed an Island Council decision instructing its delegation to seek agreement on a clear regulation to end the Kingdom consensus laws, to include a procedure for the island to become independent and to start a process to change the just-approved constitution after 10-10-10 based on a referendum.
All this could make for an interesting week in The Hague. To be sure, caretaker Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten has already fired off a bow shot as warning, by stating that there will be no room for new negotiations.
The question is, however, whether the Curaçao Island Council decision mentioned above should be seen as an attempt at "new negotiations" or just a position statement of the incoming MFK/PS/MAN government concerning its intentions for the future, once the new relations take effect. A lot probably will depend on how the island's delegation in The Hague interprets this "instruction."
All in all, the recent developments in Willemstad probably won't be of any help – to say the least – when it comes to securing the necessary majority support in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament for the Implementation Decree for the Amended Kingdom Charter. It already promises to be a close call and any action that puts in doubt the sticking in the future to agreements made could well tip the scale in a negative sense.
On the other hand, the Parliament of Aruba – despite a fierce battle to stop it by the opposition – has approved the amended charter as well, so that as far as the islands are concerned all the necessary ingredients for a successful RTC are in place. Reversing the current process in any case seems unthinkable at this point, so if that is truly not the intention of the new Curaçao coalition, and the Dutch political establishment acts responsibly, in recognition of the fact that there is simply no way back for the islands and their people, a positive outcome should still be possible.
