Upcoming RTC not the
last one, says Bijleveld
~ ‘Reassurance’ letter sent to Dutch Parliament ~
THE HAGUE--Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten has reassured the Second Chamber that the Round Table Conference (RTC) on December 15 will not be the final meeting in the constitutional process.
Decision-taking on the implementation date of the new statuses in the Kingdom will be determined at a later RTC. The upcoming RTC has a “reviewing” character and mainly will serve to look at several draft laws prepared by Curaçao and St. Maarten.
Bijleveld-Schouten sent a letter to the Second Chamber on December 2 with an update on the constitutional process of the Netherlands Antilles. Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Antillean and Aruban Affairs NAAZ will meet this Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the recent developments in the constitutional process.
On the agenda are the November 24 political consultation in St. Maarten and the State Secretary’s December 2 letter to Parliament. Several members of Parliament have indicated that decisions in the constitutional area are unacceptable without the input and consent of the Second Chamber. Some members said Parliament had not been updated regularly on the developments.
In her letter of December 2, the State Secretary gave ample information about the upcoming RTC. It is expected that the proposal phase will be closed off at the RTC. In the implementation phase, the islands will provide lists of tasks they will execute independently or jointly with the other islands. These proposals will be analysed to see if they match the set criteria.
The execution of the proposals will be tested in a final RTC, at which point a definite implementation date for the new constitutional relations will be determined. The advisory committee that prepared a report for the RTC concluded that Curaçao and St. Maarten to a great extent had complied with the set criteria, even though not all draft legislation had been received on time.
Points of concern are mainly the independent position of the Higher Councils of State and the conformity with Kingdom legislation. Curaçao lacks integrity legislation, while for St. Maarten administrative law is a point of concern. Parties will determine during the December 15 RTC whether the prepared draft legislation complies with the set criteria.
After the RTC, the advisory committee will look at the organic laws of Curaçao and St. Maarten that were not presented in time. The organic laws will be reviewed in a subsequent RTC. This has to be confirmed in a conference to which Aruba, which has been a country since 1986, is invited.
Approval of the constitutions of country Curaçao and country St. Maarten will take place following these conferences, in the Kingdom Council of Ministers. Bijleveld-Schouten assured Parliament that a review to see whether the islands complied with the conditions and demands of constitutional reform was not under discussion at this point. The review of the governments will take place in a next RTC.
“Before decisions are taken, you will have the chance to form an opinion on this,” the State Secretary wrote.
Bijleveld-Schouten will lead the Dutch delegation to Curaçao where the RTC will take place. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will chair the RTC. Dutch Ministers Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Justice) and Guusje ter Horst (Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations) will also be part of the Dutch delegation.
In her letter to Parliament, Bijleveld-Schouten explained in detail what had transpired at the November 24 meeting in St. Maarten. She also mentioned the BES week, the week of meetings with the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in November.
The letter further addressed the debt cancellation, the budget deficit of the Island Territory Curaçao, the Board for Financial Supervision CFT and the improvements in the area of maintenance of law and order in St. Maarten.
Bijleveld-Schouten, also on behalf of Minister Hirsch Ballin, informed Parliament that the Minister of Justice and St. Maarten’s Lt. Governor had taken certain steps whereby the Netherlands would assist via means and expertise.
These steps include an improvement trajectory of the Police Force through the Netherlands Antilles Safety Plan, appointment of two managers in the Police Force, appointment of a Senior Police Affairs Assistant, re-enforcement of the Kingdom Detective Cooperation Team RST and Prosecutor’s Office in the area of financial-economic crimes, the deploying of Royal Marechaussees and investments in the ICT facilities for Immigration.
