Plan B or not, new countries must comply with conditions
THE HAGUE–It is an issue that the Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber keeps coming back to: St. Maarten cannot attain country status before it has complied with all conditions. Members of Parliament’s Permanent Committee on Antillean and Aruban Affairs NAAZ don’t seem too enthusiastic about State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten’s Plan B.
Parliament wondered, during Thursday’s meeting, whether the proposed General Acts of Kingdom Government (Algemene Maatregelen van Rijksbestuur AMvR), for federal tasks that would not be ready to be assumed by new Countries Curaçao and St. Maarten in October next year, were the famous Plan B.
Bijleveld-Schouten confirmed on Thursday that Plan B involved the General Acts of Kingdom Government, designed to regulate tasks that are not ready for execution by Countries Curaçao and St. Maarten at the moment of dismantling the Netherlands Antilles. This means that Curaçao and St. Maarten can attain country status before they have taken over all tasks of the Country the Netherlands Antilles.
And that is exactly what Dutch Parliament doesn’t want, especially not for St. Maarten. Christian Democratic Party CDA Member of Parliament (MP) Bas Jan van Bochove reminded Bijleveld-Schouten of the motion of October 2008, supported by the majority in Parliament, which urged the Dutch Government to hold off on country status for St. Maarten until after the island had complied with the conditions of adequate maintenance of law and order and administration of law.
In the last minutes of Thursday’s meeting, Bijleveld-Schouten explained how the General Acts of Kingdom Government would work. She said a committee would monitor the progress and joint plans of approach would be drawn up. The Kingdom Council of Ministers would have the last say.
According to the State Secretary, this Plan B would be better than arranging the tasks that were not ready through the Governor, because it would be more effective, and the Kingdom Government would have a better grip on the matter. MP Johan Remkes of the liberal democratic VVD party sought clarity on the committee that would monitor the process. “What kind of animal is that?” He said that the State Secretary seemed to be “sinking deeper and deeper into the swamp.”
Due to time constraints, MPs didn’t have a chance to finish the discussion with the State Secretary on this issue, so it was decided to continue the debate on October 28, after the autumn recess.
Members of the NAAZ committee expressed their doubts about the date 10-10-10, when Curaçao and St. Maarten would become countries, and Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (BES islands) would be integrated into the Netherlands as “public entities.”
MP Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party, the biggest opposition party, said Bijleveld-Schouten was “drumming” on the date. “We all know that this date is not feasible. Why does the State Secretary keep organising disappointments? I understand this numerical poetry, but in the past these dates proved unfeasible. And that will happen again this time,” he said.
Johan Remkes compared the dismantling and the realisation of new statuses to an unfinished house. “When you build a house, you get a contractor and you decide on a date when the house should be finished. I am under the impression that the State Secretary has agreed to a completion of a house without a roof, doors or windows. The Final Declaration (of November 2006, -Ed.) clearly stated that everything had to be in order before country status could be attained,” he said.
MPs Bas Jan van Bochove (CDA) and Pierre Heijnen of Labour Party PvdA also didn’t seem too confident about the 10-10-10 deadline. MP Hero Brinkman of Party for Freedom PVV was the only one daring enough to mention a “more realistic” date. “Let’s forget 10-10-10 and make it 12-12-12,” he said.
MP Ineke van Gent of green left party GroenLinks said she was getting a “headache” from the process of constitutional reform. “The support is dwindling with each debate. We are in a downward spiral. GroenLinks wants to stick to 10-10-10, but we also agree that partners have to stick to the conditions that were agreed to,” she said.
Bijleveld-Schouten said she was “happy” that a date had been set. “Now everyone knows what they are up to, and parties can work towards that goal,” she said. She warned however that the date could only become a reality if the countries Curaçao and St. Maarten had their affairs completely in order. “We [will] stick to the agreement and we will check if they comply with all conditions,” she said.
Source: thedailyherald.com