WILLEMSTAD - It is no longer a surprise that the Parliament of Curaçao rejected the proposal for the Coho Kingdom Act. This was already apparent at the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (Ipko) and during parliamentary debates. It has now been formally laid down in the final report of parliament on the bill that has been sent to the Dutch House of Representatives.
A lack of respect for Curaçao, the fact that they actually rule from The Hague, the lack of concrete goals in the National Package and the failure to record amounts that the Netherlands will contribute to finance the reforms. These are just a few of the criticisms expressed by the political groups in the document.
The KEM one man faction maintains that it is against the Coho and does not comment further on the content. The other factions, both from the coalition and the opposition, explain in detail what is lacking in the bill. One group opts for harsher terms than the other, but the common thread is that they all reject the bill.
This was also apparent from the motions adopted in Parliament and from the decision points agreed at Ipko. At the last meeting in Sint Maarten in early May, the other parliaments agreed, so that the Coho Kingdom Act only seems to have a chance after major adjustments.
In the final report, the PAR faction is the first to speak. In the position already widely shared with the public, it comes down to a lack of ownership of the Caribbean countries. Ultimately, according to the proposal, the Netherlands decides what happens, in other words, a large part of the autonomy is handed over. The PAR emphasizes that it does support the reforms and measures from the National Package.
But because the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is given the power to designate and through the Kingdom Council of Ministers the option of suspension, he is in fact placed above the Coho and the national government. The PAR sees more in a construction such as that of the Financial Supervision Board (Cft), for which the countries bear joint responsibility.
It also bothers the PAR and most other factions that Coho is charged with both implementation and supervision and that the members are appointed by the Netherlands. Affinity with the Caribbean is a condition, but that is not enough. The countries should be able to appoint members to the Coho themselves, according to the PAR and the other factions. And the countries must also draw up the implementation agenda themselves, which is submitted to Coho. After that, an appeal to the Crown may be filed against a decision by the Coho.
The PAR also wants to get rid of the option to extend the Coho Kingdom Act. Six years and no more, according to the party. And the Netherlands must determine its contribution in advance, so that a multi-year development program can be budgeted.
The MAN faction sees in the proposal a lack of respect and even contempt for the government and parliament of Curaçao. This faction also lacks financial commitment from the Netherlands and proposes to set up a fund for the money that the Netherlands contributes for investments in the economy. Several factions say they miss the “D” of Development ii the proposal. Furthermore, MAN's objections roughly correspond to those of PAR, and coalition faction MFK also agrees.
That faction even mentions a concrete amount that the Netherlands must commit: 2.5 billion guilders for five years. MFK also draws attention to the fact that no list is mentioned of incompatible additional positions of the members of the Coho. Despite the objections, MFK also states that it does not want the Coho Kingdom Act to fail.
"It is important that the government of Curaçao can further negotiate on the proposal of the Coho Kingdom Act on the basis of consensus." The present proposal shows no respect for the people of Curaçao, according to MFK.
The TPK one man faction says it is against the proposal and does not want to renegotiate. But the faction does address the objections in substance, which amount to the same as what the other parties mention. Coalition partner PNP also supports this and states that the proposal will not work out favorably for the people. However, the party emphasizes that reforms are needed.
"Only the patient, namely the Curaçao population, must remain alive after the reforms," says the PNP faction.