THE HAGUE--It remains to be seen whether a majority of the Dutch Second Chamber votes in favour of amending the Kingdom Charter during Tuesday's debate. The date 10-10-10 to realise new constitutional relations in the Kingdom is at stake.
Liberal Democratic Party VVD, Party for Freedom PVV and Socialist Party (SP), together good for 70 of the 150 seats in the Second Chamber are expected to vote against the Implementation Kingdom Decree Amendment Charter.
Together the three parties are five votes short of stopping the constitutional process to reform the Kingdom. However, there is also a chance the Christian Union (CU) with its five seats, would vote against the Implementation Kingdom Decree.
CU member of Parliament Cynthia Ortega-Martijn in an interview over the weekend didn't exclude the possibility CU would vote against, because the party wasn't too sure everything was in order and all necessary laws had been approved.
Ortega-Martijn said CU would only take a final decision after Tuesday's Political Steering Group (PSG), which takes place a few hours before the Second Chamber debate. The debate in Parliament with caretaker Minister of Justice, Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ernst Hirsch Ballin and State secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten starts at 6:30pm.
With the five votes of CU, the number of votes against the Implementation Kingdom Decree would come to 75. It is very possible Reformed SGP party will join the group of no-voters.
The Christian Democratic Party CDA and PvdA have always voted in favour of the constitutional process, but they may have doubts now following decisions in Curaçao and St. Maarten that have been qualified in The Hague as being against the principles of good governance
The Hague is not taking the decision of Curaçao's Island Council to increase the pensions of local politicians lightly and neither the move of St. Maarten's Executive Council to amend the island's casino policy which makes it possible for Hotel Caravanserai to obtain a casino license.
