THE HAGUE - The autonomy of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten remains "proudly standing", even after the entry into force of the Consensus Act on the Caribbean Body for Reform and Development (COHO). That is what senior legislative lawyer for constitutional affairs Jan Willem van Rossem of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations argued today during a technical briefing about COHO to the Standing Committee on Kingdom Relations of the Dutch Lower House.
Van Rossem pointed out that the governments of the four countries believe that the version of the bill presented in February does justice to the autonomy. Autonomy is respected, he emphasized. Van Rossem also pointed to the principle of reciprocity: if the countries implement the agreed reforms, the law obliges the Netherlands to make the promised financing available without new conditions being set. This also works the other way around: if a country does not comply with the agreements, support can be suspended, but this will be preceded by a process of hearing both sides.
The governments and parliaments of the countries have the right not to agree to the COHO law. In that case, the intended consensus disappears and the support from the COHO organization ceases. Director of Kingdom Relations Saskia de Reuver emphasized the aim of the COHO operation: to make the countries more resilient and to structurally improve the lives of the inhabitants.