Curacao must adopt the constitution

June 14, 2010 7:51 AM

Prime Minister Emily de Jongh-Elhage says the Antilles may certainly count its blessings with the political reformation.

The islands have received good treatment and the Curaçao Island Council would be wise to adopt the constitution for country Curaçao next week Friday.

"While millions of people in other countries lose their job, we are barely affected by the international economical crisis. While not only Greece, but also several other countries are at wits' end regarding their financial deficits, we not only have balanced budgets, but even surpluses – thanks to the debt reconstruction by the Netherlands. Social Economic Initiatives bring projects worth millions to our island along with substantial employment," she said during the weekly press conference of the Council of Ministers.

In the opinion of De Jongh-Elhage, the 55-year experience of the self-governing Antilles could be instructive for the new countries Curaçao and St. Maarten.

Partly because of what Curaçao's Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Zita Jesus-Leito (PAR) had told her, she therefore expects the Curaçao Island Council to adopt the draft Constitution next week Friday so that one could set course for 10-10-10 under full sails.

"We have fulfilled our task with the Netherlands. Now we must adopt the constitution. The Upper Chamber will discuss the [consensus] national laws on July 6. Everything ran smoothly for us. Our affairs were constantly ready just in time. Also now the Netherlands is in the middle of the Lower Chamber elections. Just imagine what the status of affairs would have been now, if 'Nò' had won the referendum. We have crossed and burned that bridge; there is no way back. We must now continue to make the most of the paradise in which we live," de Jongh-Elhage said.

10 June 2010