Postponement Parliamentary elections not under discussion

September 15, 2008 5:53 AM

The request for a possible postponement of the 2010 Parliament elections is currently not under discussion, indicated the State Council in a published information on the acceleration of the transition process, which was requested by the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles.

“If the devolving of duties and powers, as advise by the State Council, is successful, it means that the question has become theoretical”, says the Council.

The Council is of the opinion that the interest of all parties in question must be to make the 1 January, 2010 date, so that it’s not postponed again. “Consider the time we have left – about 16 months – this requires a tight schedule, and the will to do what’s necessary in good harmony. Definitely now that the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles is in fact already going, further delay will imply big risks for the quality of government on the islands and for the transition process as such.”

It is possible to formally anticipate on the new political situation for Curacao and St. Maarten. The Netherlands Antilles must have already devolved powers to both islands (decentralized) before the date of the formal transition. The moment the two islands become states, they have some of the accompanied powers for some time already and have also gained the experience. It is not possible to decentralize all the government duties.

According to the Council, rounding off the political restructuring process of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010 is feasible. “The country Netherlands Antilles can in fact cease to exist. The tasks of the Central Government for the benefit of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba (de BES-islands) can be devolved to the Netherlands at the moment; and those for the benefit of Curacao and St. Maarten can then have been decentralized to these islands or temporarily to the government as Kingdom body.” Besides, the latter is only possible for a limited number of government tasks that are still under negotiations by the beginning of 2009 and for a limited time, in view of democratic legitimization.
In connection to this, the Council calls for attention to article 51 of the Charter as duty observation for central government’s tasks.

The transfer of government tasks and the corresponding powers of the Netherlands Antilles to St. Maarten, Curacao, the Netherlands, and the Kingdom can take place through existing legislation and rules. If also formal powers must be devolved, then the Charter for the Kingdom offers several instruments for that accelerated devolve. In addition to the above-mentioned article 51, also articles 38 and 52 of the Charter are mentioned.
 
(Source: National Newspaper Amigoe)

10 September, 2008