Curaçao delegation walks out in protest over law procedure

January 16, 2012 2:46 PM

PHILIPSBURG--Although the Curaçao flag was displayed behind signatories to the agreement list of the International-Parliamentary Affairs and Kingdom Relations Conference IPKO, no Curaçao representative was at the head table on Friday afternoon.

St. Maarten President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell, Aruba President of Parliament Paul Croes and Dutch delegation leader Member of Parliament (MP) Brigitte van der Burg signed the agreement list at Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort and Casino.

The Curaçao delegation, with the exception of PAR MP Dennis Jackson, walked out of the session after pressing that their opinion on the Kingdom Law Procedure should be noted in the final document. Delegation leader MP Ivar Asjes had indicates that if the country did not get its way the delegation would leave the meeting in protest and this eventually became the case after an almost-hour-long adjournment to see if a compromise could be reached.

At issue was Curaçao's stance that it should have the option to abolish or not implement a kingdom law if it did not agree with it. The delegation wanted this point stated in the agreement list.

The other countries – Aruba, St. Maarten and The Netherlands – were not in favour of adding Curaçao's stance. Dutch MP Brigitte van der Burg pointed out that if the delegation had specific issues, they always could be stated in Curaçao's Parliament or via the media.

Curaçao President of Parliament Ivar Asjes and MP Eunice Eisden argued that it was a matter of respect and the delegation should be able to share its standpoint.

Aruba MP Andin Bikker, in an attempt to bring compromise to the situation, suggested that the matter of the kingdom law procedure be taken off the agreement list for now. This compromise was supported by St. Maarten MP William Marlin, but was not agreed to by the rest of the delegations.

The haggling over this point extended the meeting by almost four hours. It originally was scheduled to end at 12:00pm, followed by lunch with St. Maarten's Acting Governor Reynold Groeneveldt and Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams and a cultural show. After waiting for almost two hours, Wescot-William left to attend to other business. The multitude of children waiting to perform on the steel pan and in dance had to wait it out in the lobby.

In the end, the agreement list stated that Kingdom Law procedure and consensus Kingdom laws are to remain as is as long as the Kingdom Charter is adhered to. It also stated that the four parliaments need to be involved sooner in draft consensus laws.

After the walkout, Asjes gathered with his fellow MPs in the lobby of the resort to discuss their next move. Asjes declined to speak to the press at that time, saying that he had to consult with his delegation.

The meeting continued with Jackson as the only person sitting at Curaçao side of the table. Giving a closing statement, he said he was speaking on behalf of the PAR party and leader MP Emily de Jongh-Elhage, not the Curaçao delegation. He said the focus should be on the welfare and wellbeing of the people of the kingdom and he hoped Curaçao would continue to be part of the kingdom.

In his closing remarks, St. Maarten MP Roy Marlin, who is also chairman of Parliament's Permanent Committee for Inter-Parliamentary affairs and Kingdom Relations, said St. Maarten had to do what was best to foster cooperation and improve relationships within the kingdom, even if it was just among three instead of four countries.

Cooperation on public health is important, he added. "This piece of paper [the agreement list, ed.] in a few months should be translated into improvements for St. Maarten Medical Center and for the people."

Among the decisions made at the four-day meeting were that the Education and Energy workgroups would continue their work and that a workgroup would be installed on transportation in the Caribbean. That group, on requests of the four governments, would solve the problems as much as possible.

The workgroup is to look into the level of airport tax, travel documents, cost of air tickets, import duties, sea cargo transport between the islands and transportation problems of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.

The agreement list also stated that the Dutch delegation would question the Dutch government about the differences in airfare price from The Netherlands to the Dutch Caribbean.

The workgroup on health care is to come up with suggestions for cooperation to improve health care. The workgroup on youth will work on proposals for prevention, child rights and sexual education. This group is to file a report on March 15 at the latest.

The next IPKO has been set for The Hague, June 5-8, and will focus on education, energy, health care, transportation in the Caribbean, youth, good governance and integrity, and proposals from the report "Kiezen voor het Koninkrijk" (Choosing for the Kingdom).

The following IPKO is tentatively scheduled for Curaçao, January 8-11, 2013.

13 January 2012