WILLEMSTAD - Curaçao observed the sixtieth anniversary of the Dutch Kingdom Charter on Monday, December 15, with a gathering at the renovated "autonomy monument" on Rijkseenheid Boulevard.

 

Curaçao Governor Lucille George-Wout, Prime Minister of Aruba Mike Eman and caretaker Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot-Williams were among the invited guests.

 

Although Kingdom Day is not a holiday in Curaçao, Prime Minister Ivar Asjes had decided that this milestone should not go by unnoticed. In his speech, he stressed that the island continued to believe in open dialogue and constructive relations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but based on mutual respect and according to the responsibilities as laid down in the charter.

 

Eman mentioned the pioneers who had made the autonomy of the then-Netherlands Antilles possible per 1954. He said common sense and feelings of the heart had prevailed at the time while independence was being called for all over the region, so they had chosen for the future of their islands. However, he too emphasised the need for continued cooperation and respect within the kingdom.

 

Wescot-Williams pointed out that the three prime ministers were celebrating the date jointly to join their forces. She said the islands had agreed to come together once the dust over the dismantling of the Antilles per 10-10-10 had settled, "but the dust hasn't settled and never will, so the islands are now getting ready to defend their people until the last drop," she said, calling for true equality between the citizens of all kingdom countries.

 

Keynote speaker was former Antillean Prime Minister Don Martina. Standing in the full late morning sun while delivering his address, at a certain point he asked for continuation as he was having trouble breathing, after which his wife Suze Giskus finished the speech.

 

Martina recalled how Curaçao had become ungovernable just five years after signing the charter because the commissioners at the time refused to resign despite no longer having majority backing in the Island Council. This led to intervention by the Netherlands via the lt. governor.

 

Ironically, more or less the same thing happened soon after the last major constitutional hurdle was taken when the island – like St. Maarten, Aruba and the Netherlands – became a country within the kingdom on 10-10-10. In 2012 the already-resigned Schotte cabinet refused to step down despite a motion of no-confidence and there was a budgetary instruction from the Kingdom Council of Ministers.

 

Martina argued that this showed that lessons from the past were not always learned and the political culture had gotten in the way of the development of Curaçao and its autonomy.

 

He wondered what could be done about the constant tug-of-war between coalition and opposition, reminding all that it is the Parliament as a whole that represents the people. However, he insisted that parliamentarians should keep the right to go independent and act according to their consciences.

 

The former MAN leader called for appointments to boards of government-owned entities not to be done by only the ruling coalition, but rather by the entire legislature, and to involve social groups such as labour unions, employers' associations as well as elderly- and youth organisations.

Several other former prime ministers of the Netherlands Antilles also were present. At Asjes' request the festivities were concentrated around young people with a special creative programme.