WILLEMSTAD - The new government coalition assumes that an agreement can be concluded with the Netherlands for further liquidity support.
The parties will continue to hold talks with Undersecretary Raymond Knops of the Interior and Kingdom Relations about the Caribbean Body for Reform and Development (COHO) and a "plan B scenario" is therefore not on the agenda at this point.
Coalition leaders Gilmar Pisas and Ruthmilda Larmonie-Cecilia announced this during a press conference yesterday. The duo has now formulated a response to Knops's letter of 14 May and sent it to the Undersecretary.
Pisas said yesterday that he had pleasant talks with Knops since MFK's victory in the elections of 19 March 2021, and that it was agreed that the content of the talks between the parties will not be released. Nevertheless, Knops' letter to Pisas and Larmonie-Cecilia was leaked last Friday. Pisas emphasized yesterday that the leak is not coming from the MFK corner and both he and the PNP leader spoke of “forces at work to create division, panic and fear among the population and to destabilize the government that has yet to come to power”.
“We are being attacked from all angles and that is because of statements made by a member of our organization. This has given people the opportunity to cause a commotion. This affects not only us as a political organization, but the entire country. It gives the impression that we are doing things without thinking,” said Pisas.
Although he did not name the MFK member, reference is made to number 2 on the list Charles Cooper, who has previously spoken of a Plan B; an alternative where Curaçao would not need the financial emergency support from the Netherlands. What this plan B entails has never been explained. This also remained unclear yesterday.
But, as both Pisas and Larmonie-Cecilia and intended Minister of Finance and number 4 on the MFK list Javier Silvania emphasized: this scenario is not relevant at all, 'because we are still in talks with the Netherlands and want to continue this'.
“The impression has been given that we do not want to deal with the Netherlands and that we do not want to negotiate. This causes major problems, because this is a false impression. Moreover, this will deter investors who want to invest in our country,” said Pisas, who at the same time emphasized that the new government" wants to do things on its own, regardless of the crisis, in the future. " "And if that does not work, then we will seek rapprochement within the Kingdom."
Although the parties intend to remain at the table with the Netherlands, MFK in particular is not satisfied with the tone of the last letter from Knops.
“In short, the message is that if we do not accept COHO, there will be no money and, moreover, we will have to pay back the money we have already borrowed. This is unacceptable to us. We never said we wouldn't participate in conversations. Our first starting point is to sit around the table and find a solution to the liquidity aspect that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. So we want to emphasize that we have never walked away from the table. We are firmly convinced that we can come up with solutions in terms of emergency financial support that is needed for the people who are suffering,” said the MFK leader.
According to Larmonie-Cecilia, Knops has drawn his own conclusions. She therefore regrets the course of events and the letter of last Friday.
“We have no quarrel with the Netherlands. We have never indicated that we will not continue the process. The process will be continued. The conversations will be continued.”