Parliament meeting gets out of hand

February 06, 2012 6:42 AM

A meeting of the Parliament requested by the PAR to approve the conclusions of the Kingdom Conference of December last, got out of hand this morning.

The agenda item was removed at the request of MFK party-chairman, with the support of a Parliament majority, to great anger of the PAR-party. “This bears resemblance to a dictatorial regime”, PAR party-chairwoman Emily de Jongh-Elhage said this morning.At the beginning of the meeting, Dean Rozier (MFK) requested a point of order, which State chairman Ivar Asjes (PS) granted. Rozier subsequently asked De Jongh-Elhage to indicate the point of discussing the agenda item requested by her party. De Jongh-Elhage said the agenda item was self-explanatory. Rozier then suggested a vote be taken to remove the item from the agenda. A majority in the Parliament supported this suggestion and the item was removed.

The PAR-party refused to accept this state of affairs and several party members lashed out at State chairman Asjes, accusing him of dictatorial behavior. The discussion reached the point where Asjes requested PAR-member Jacoba to leave the conference room, and the entire PAR-party left the conference room. The coalition parties then inveighed strongly against the PAR. Rozier accused the PAR of a childish and shameful behavior; while Eunice Eisden (MAN) pointed out that it only made sense to discuss the conclusions of the Kingdom Conference when the study groups – as mentioned in these conclusions – have completed their task.

State chairman Asjes also criticized the PAR-party. According to him, the PAR should respect the democratic rules. “Requesting a meeting doesn’t mean it will take place. If three State members request a meeting, then as chairman of the States, I am to convene a meeting within 14 days, but that doesn’t mean that meeting will actually take place. You need the support of eleven State members to convene a meeting and if the meeting begins, the States will decide whether the meeting will take place. Eventually, a majority of the Parliament decides what happens. The eights seats of the PAR cannot form a majority and the PAR cannot impose their will on the Parliament .”

Before the Amigoe, De Jongh-Elhage expresses her anger about the state of affairs; she’s never experienced this in the Parliament before. “This is the blackest day of my life. This bears resemblance to a dictatorial regime. We used our democratic right to request a meeting. Who is Dean Rozier or the State chairman to ask us why we requested this meeting? Our parliamentary democracy is at risk with such behavior.”

It’s clear to the PAR-leader that the coalition parties devised this in advance. “They have a problem. The government presented a vision in the Kingdom Conference that departed from undermining the Charter. However, in the conclusions of the Kingdom Conference, the government embraces the Kingdom.” De Jongh-Elhage could not elaborate this morning on the next steps of the PAR-party, but the latter will deliberate on this matter today.

2 February 2012