Curaçao Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas as he arrives for the Kingdom Council of Ministers meeting on March 25. At left, Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen. (Suzanne Koelega file photo)
WILLEMSTAD/THE HAGUE--Curaçao Prime Minister (PM) Gilmar Pisas wants to have a Kingdom conference with all four countries of the Kingdom to discuss the Kingdom law proposal to establish the Caribbean Body for Reform and Development COHO.
Pisas informed Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen of his wish per letter, which was sent on March 28, but was not published by Curaçao government until a copy was leaked to the media.
According to Pisas, there is sufficient time to organise a Kingdom conference on a political level, with the process to handle the law proposal in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament being deferred. At this Kingdom conference, the countries would discuss their points of concern about the law proposal “in order to reach the necessary consensus” for the Kingdom law in question.
The current COHO law proposal does not appear to have the support of Curaçao’s Parliament, experts and society in general, stated Pisas as one of the reasons for holding a Kingdom conference. He said that “naturally the same would also apply for the other two autonomous countries within the Kingdom,” Aruba and St. Maarten.
“Based on the societal debate thus far and the preliminary analysis of the consultations organised by the Parliament, the Curaçao government is of the opinion that important groups in the community, consulted experts and no small number of Members of Parliament (MPs) feel that there are autonomy-undermining conditions or otherwise unfavourable elements for the position of Curaçao and the autonomous countries in the law proposal,” stated Pisas.
Many MPs and experts find that the ownership of the autonomous countries is still deficient in the law proposal, also seeing the far-reaching authorities that the COHO and the Dutch minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations will have, the prime minister explained.
The lack of commitment by the Dutch government to make the highly necessary investments is seen as unfavourable as well, noted Pisas, who reminded the state secretary of the September 1, 2020, motion adopted by Curaçao Parliament to refrain from introducing the Kingdom Consensus law.
Pisas pointed out that many MPs are “very hesitant” to transfer more autonomous tasks of the countries to Kingdom bodies. “This will not be different with the current law proposal,” he stated, adding that as such it was “advisable” to further discuss the points of concern and to put more emphasis on ownership in the law proposal.
“The COHO law proposal, without the highly necessary adaptations and concrete commitments in terms of a clear flanking policy with regard to future investments in the countries’ communities, cannot count on a majority in the Parliament,” stated Pisas.
The prime minister further announced that he has appointed a new team to discuss the points of concern with The Hague on a technical level. The objective would be to “present effective solutions and/or possible directions for solutions” for political decision-taking at the Kingdom conference which would take place prior to the handling of the law proposal in the Second Chamber.
