Handling BES laws still on for March 4

February 25, 2010 4:59 AM

THE HAGUE--The handling of the first package of laws for the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, on March 4, will almost certainly proceed, said Chairman of the Second Dutch Parliament Chamber's Permanent Committee for Antillean and Aruban Affairs NAAZ Willibrord van Beek on Wednesday.

Van Beek made his decision after a few days of pondering and consulting NAAZ Committee members. Most do not have a problem with the handling of the six BES laws in a plenary session next week Thursday.

Only the opposition parties Socialist Party (SP) and Party for Freedom PVV have objected, because they want to declare the constitutional reform legislation "controversial," meaning that handling this subject would be deferred until after the formation of a new Dutch Government. Van Beek has put aside their objections.

Van Beek's decision is merely an "advice" to the NAAZ Committee. The latter will have to formalise his decision during a meeting slated for next Tuesday. PVV and SP have already announced that they will not accept the Chairman's decision.

Member of Parliament Ronald van Raak (SP) said that it didn't make sense to handle the BES laws when the amendment to the Charter, considered the "mother" of all laws in the Kingdom, couldn't be dealt with under a caretaker cabinet. "It means that the BES laws won't go into effect anyway. If a majority so decides, I will participate, but we will be doing a lot of work for nothing. My contribution will be short," he said.

PVV Member of Parliament Hero Brinkman responded angrily when hearing Van Beek's decision. "I am going to cause lots of trouble over this in Tuesday's meeting. It is absolutely senseless to handle these laws, because they can only be implemented after the formation of the new government. It is purely symbolic politics," he said.

NAAZ will also decide on the Kingdom Consensus laws on Tuesday. Three parties, SP, PVV and the liberal democratic VVD party, have already indicated that they want to declare these legislation proposals "controversial." The plenary handling of these laws has been planned for April 6-15.

Meanwhile, State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten is making all attempts to get the Kingdom Consensus laws and the BES law package handled in the Second Chamber. She has submitted the last missing document in the BES law package: the changed Adaptation Law on Public Entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, also called the A-BES, so it can be handled on March 4.

Bijleveld-Schouten and Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ernst Hirsch Ballin have requested their civil servants to come up with a legal construction to prevent a delay in the constitutional reform process.

Civil servants, assisted by the Council of State, are looking for a way to implement the Kingdom Consensus laws and the BES laws in advance of the amendments to the Charter and the Dutch Constitution after the elections. Amending the Charter and the Constitution under a caretaker government is not possible.

Chairwoman of the First Dutch Parliament Chamber's Permanent Committee for Antillean and Aruban Affairs Marijke Linthorst said Wednesday that if the Second Chamber were to go ahead with the handling of the BES laws, the First Chamber would follow suit.

The First Chamber also still has to decide on which legislation it wants to declare "controversial." This only regards laws already approved by the Second Chamber that are awaiting approval by the First Chamber. There are no Antillean constitutional reform laws currently at the First Chamber.

In theory, the First Chamber can declare a law that was approved by the Second Chamber "controversial." Linthorst said that she didn't think this would happen to the BES laws. She couldn't say anything about the Kingdom Consensus laws. "We will have to decide on that next week," she said. The First and Second Chamber are currently on a one-week recess.

25 February 2010