THE HAGUE - The Committee on Kingdom Relations of the Dutch Lower House wants a letter from the new cabinet (to be sworn in early January) about the state of affairs with regard to the country packages of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten, the Caribbean Organization for Reform and Development (COHO) and the liquidity support provided to the countries. That was decided today in a so-called procedure meeting.
Depending on the content of the letter, the committee will decide in January whether there will be a separate committee debate with the (new) minister for Kingdom Relations. Jorien Wuite of the D66 party believes that the COHO has been quiet for a long time and suggested that a committee debate be held. That is now put 'in pencil' in the agenda.
It is unclear why the draft of the underlying Consensus Kingdom Act has still not been presented to the four parliaments for consideration. At the beginning of September, the Council of State issued an additional advice, after which it was expected that the bill would be published soon.
The fact that this has not yet happened and that the parties are keeping themselves silent indicates that the COHO Act is apparently difficult for one or more parties. Undersecretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations would have liked to have sent the bill to the House and parliament before a new cabinet takes office. He can still do that if he succeeds himself.