Some merit
The proposal of Dutch civil servants to push the target date for the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles back to 2010 may have some merit, certainly where it comes to St. Maarten and Curaçao obtaining country status. Not only is there still a lot work to be done in preparation for the changes, but the increasing doubts if the current December 15, 2008, deadline can be met can lead to frustration and have a negative effect on the constitutional change process.
It may be better to cut to the chase and decide on a postponement now to take the pressure off, so that preparations are not made in haste, with all possible consequences. What such a decision in any case should not lead to is playing of the blame game between the Kingdom partners or between, for example, St. Maarten’s DP in the Executive Council and the National Alliance in the Central Government, as has happened in the past.
The issue is not just St. Maarten. In Curaçao there is a growing division between those in favour and those against the arrangements made up to now, about which even the church is concerned. The influential Amigoe newspaper even suggested in its editorial that a referendum on the result up to now might not be such a bad idea. Were it to be done, it would almost certainly delay the process.
In St. Maarten elections would still have to be held this year for a 15-seat Parliament, while the current 11-seat Island Council has been in office less than a year. Postponing the target date would give the council members a term closer to the four-year term for which they were elected.
In Curaçao they plan to have the current 21-seat Island Council become the 21-seat Curaçao Parliament, but there are political issues with that. The island now has 21 council members, plus 14 members of the Antillean Parliament who would be out of a job.
All in all, while it is true that the window of opportunity could close if there are political shifts in the Netherlands, it is also true that what is really important is not the date, but doing things right so the changes benefit the islands and their people.
CORRECTION
Yesterday’s editorial about the residence requirements for existing foreign directors erroneously mentioned that the concerns about the minimum rent/house value and turnover had not been addressed. They are actually not part of the requirements for renewals, even though they, together with the 75,000 guilder salary requirement, were in the original announcement of the new policy.
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