THE HAGUE - The dispute settlement was withdrawn today by the Kingdom Council of Ministers, after it had already been discussed by the House of Representatives. A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior announced this.
There has been disagreement about this for years between the Netherlands and the countries within the Kingdom. After 60 years, things seemed to be moving in 2010 after the constitutional reforms in which Curaçao and Sint Maarten became autonomous countries. Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius became special municipalities of the Netherlands.
The presidents of the Parliament of the three countries (Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten) have now indicated in a letter to the Dutch that they will withdraw their support for the Kingdom Disputes Act proposal.
"As a result, the Kingdom Council of Ministers has decided to withdraw the Kingdom Disputes Act due to the lack of support from the countries for the present arrangement," said Internal Affairs.