Broad support for 10-10-10

September 09, 2010 3:40 PM

THE HAGUE--October 10, the date for new constitutional relations in the Dutch Kingdom, has received broad support from the Second Chamber. The liberal democratic VVD party supported the process after all.

Initially, the VVD had been against the Kingdom Law to amend the Charter, but during the voting on the motions that were submitted on Tuesday in the debate on the Implementation Kingdom Decree to amend the Charter, the largest faction gave in.

VVD's support depended on its own motion, which stated that the future Kingdom Law on Movement of Persons (Rijkswet Personenverkeer) should include an admittance and expulsion regulation for high-risk Antillean youngsters. The regulation should be based on reciprocity whereby criminal Dutch citizens residing on the islands also can be sent back to the Netherlands.

The Christian Democratic Party CDA and the Party for Freedom PVV support such a regulation. Together, the three parties have a majority in Parliament, albeit a small one.

Labour Party PvdA Member of Parliament (MP) Jeroen Recourt tried to obstruct voting on the motion. He wanted to have clarity first from Dutch caretaker Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin about the constitutional repercussions of an admittance and expulsion regulation.

Recourt received support from the green left party GroenLinks, Democrats D66, Christian Union CU and the Party for Animals PvD. MP Willibrord van Beek of the VVD said his party didn't support the proposal to first seek the Minister's advice. MP Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) said seeking advice was "nonsense" and requested voting on the motion.

Second Chamber Chairwoman Gerdi Verbeet decided that the voting would proceed. Recourt then moved to request individual voting. The end result was that 73 Members voted in favour and 62 against the motion. Recourt subsequently asked for a letter from the Justice Minister about the constitutional legality of an admittance and expulsion regulation. In 2004 and 2005, the Dutch Parliament also voted in favour of motions to implement travel restrictions for Antillean youngsters.

The Second Chamber also voted on three other motions on Wednesday: a motion of SP to postpone the Final Round Table Conference (RTC) scheduled for today, Thursday, and instead organise an emergency conference on the "crisis" in the Kingdom; a motion of the Party for Freedom PVV to cease the debt reorganisation now that Curaçao's new government is "taking steps for independence"; and a motion, also of the PVV, to defer the Implementation Kingdom Decree to amend the Charter.

Only the SP voted in favour of its own motion. Besides the PVV, no other party supported the motion to cease the debt reorganisation. The SP and PVV voted for the motion to defer the Implementation Kingdom Decree.

8 September, 2010