A clean start
The coming days and weeks could prove crucial regarding the process to dismantle the Netherlands Antilles and for St. Maarten to become an autonomous country in the Dutch Kingdom. With Parliament elections in Holland just two months away, there is very little time left to reach basic agreement with the Balkenende Cabinet, while exactly what position the next Dutch Government will have on the issue of constitutional change in the islands remains to be seen.
Judging from the policy statements in the 2007 Kingdom Relations budget presented this week by that same outgoing cabinet, it won’t be easy. In a no-nonsense manner, it says drastic measures are inevitable, but that local authorities do not seem willing to take decisive action and have not wholeheartedly supported The Hague’s gestures to put future Kingdom relations on a firmer footing and arm them against political upheaval.
Despite the uncompromising tone of his budget statement, including acceptance of the so-called non-paper “Partners in the Kingdom” as condition for a Round Table Conference (RTC), the upcoming visit of Kingdom Relations Minister Atzo Nicolaï could provide an opportunity for progress. While he will focus primarily on the three “smaller” islands Saba, Statia and Bonaire that want direct ties with Holland, St. Maarten and Curaçao, as the two islands that want country status, could greatly improve the chance of having an RTC before elections in Holland if they reach agreement on crucial issues like a monetary union when they meet on the matter next week.
It seems clear at this point that the Dutch Government will not give St. Maarten and Curaçao the exact same status Aruba received when it left the Antilles 20 years ago. That may not be considered consistent, or even fair, but it is the reality, also based on the fact that times and circumstances have changed.
It can’t be said enough: compromise on all sides will be needed and should be possible. The Council of State in an advice on the matter, for example, backs away from the Dutch Government’s unrealistic view that not only should the Antillean islands keep sharing one attorney general, prosecution and police, but that Aruba should be re-included as well. The council points out that the local political responsibility of the respective Justice Ministers must also be considered.
So while huge differences still exist not only between the Antilles and Holland, but also among the islands, there are prospects for bridging them. That is important not just in terms of ending the constitutional quagmire that has plagued the Dutch Caribbean for decades, but also because of the unique chance it offers to solve the five-billion-guilder Antillean debt crisis with the help of Holland, so the new island entities can have a clean start.
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