President of the Curaçao Parliament Charetti America-Francisca (third from left), who chaired the IPKO in Curaçao, signs the agreements list on Friday.
WILLEMSTAD--The Inter-Parliamentary Consultation of the Kingdom IPKO closed off in Curaçao on Friday on a positive note. Though the discussions were at times emotional and direct about certain topics like the slavery past and the democratic deficit, delegations agreed that it was a good IPKO.
Delegation leaders at last week’s IPKO with President of the Curaçao Parliament Charetti America-Francisca. From left: Mariëlle Paul of the Netherlands, Edgard Vrolijk of Aruba, America-Francisca and Sidharth “Cookie” Bijlani of St. Maarten.
Delegations taking part in the IPKO in Curaçao last week went on a working visit that highlighted the Curaçao slavery past. Photo shows the delegations at the Tula monument at Rif.
“At the start of this IPKO, I said in my opening words that I hoped this IPKO would be sharp on the content and mild on the relations. We managed to succeed in this,” said Dutch delegation leader and Chairperson of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Dutch Second Chamber of Parliament Mariëlle Paul.
“We are and remain politicians, so once in while we had harsh statements and confrontations. But there was also profoundness, vulnerability and connection. In my opinion, that is our greatest accomplishment: the connection that was strengthened because of our open dialogue,” said Paul.
Aruba delegation leader and President of the Aruba Parliament Edgard Vrolijk said it had been a successful IPKO with valuable discussions about important themes. He specifically mentioned the shared slavery history and colonialism.
“We owe understanding, recognition and apologies to our people for the slavery past and colonialism, and how this still affects people to this day. It is not a story. It is not a story that simply ends. It is our shared past which we need to address in unity to prevent a repeat. Incorporating the slavery past in the school curricula is a start,” said Vrolijk.
St. Maarten delegation leader and President of the St. Maarten Parliament Sidharth “Cookie” Bijlani, during the closing ceremony, repeated some of his words of his opening address when he said that IPKO was an opportunity to come together to exchange ideas on areas of mutual concern.
“These past days, we have discussed and exchanged ideas on very sensitive subjects like the migrants flows, the relations in the Kingdom, the slavery past and colonialism. I am pleased that these discussions took place with mutual respect, understanding and inclusivity. Going forward, it is the mutual respect that we must continue to display towards each other in carrying out our tasks as representatives of our people,” said Bijlani.
“It is this inclusivity that we should hold dear, while taking into consideration that each of our countries and people are different, be it in experiences, expressions or the language that they speak. But most importantly, it is the understanding that there is a democratic deficit that we have to work on and understanding in general that we need to move forward,” Bijlani said.
Curaçao delegation leader Amerigo Thodé also spoke of a good IPKO. “We talked about sensitive subjects and we made progress in these discussions. I am looking forward to continuing these discussions at the next IPKO,” he said.
The next IPKO, it was decided in the 10-page agreements list that was signed on Friday, will take place in The Hague from June 1 to 5. On the request of the St. Maarten delegation, a presentation about data protection will be added to the agenda of the next IPKO. St. Maarten Member of Parliament (MP) Rolando Brison said that this presentation was important to get a better understanding as to why the matter of data protection was being secured in a Kingdom Consensus Law.
