This newspaper is not in the habit of arguing that Dutch Second Chamber members should not get involved in matters pertaining to the three Dutch Caribbean countries. While it’s true that the bulk of their voters are in the Netherlands, with no kingdom parliament they are the ones de facto controlling the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
Although Aruba, St. Maarten and Curaçao have an autonomous status they are bound by the charter that makes defence, foreign policy and judicial security kingdom affairs, along with guaranteeing basic rights for all Dutch subjects, including those on the islands. Financial supervision was added in recent years and for the latter two also Plans of Approach regarding law enforcement.
All this made it increasingly important to have parliamentarians in The Hague, regardless of their support base, supervise what is decided there on a day-to-day basis in relation to the former colonies. They may not always do so to the liking of islanders, but it’s certainly better than nothing.
Regarding Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (the BES islands) the Dutch legislature is even directly responsible, because these territories became an integral part of the Netherlands as extraordinary public entities per 10-10-10. The most recent questions about National Representative Gilbert Isabella (see related story) are therefore nothing out of the ordinary.
However, it seems a bit childish to put departing Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk on the spot over the term for which Isabella had been appointed, especially since Plasterk’s PvdA party is not part of the current process to form a new Dutch Cabinet. Apparently the Minister had indicated the appointment would be for only three instead of the six years mentioned in the WolBES Law and this turned out not to be the case.
With all that’s been going in what now is known as the Caribbean Netherlands and particularly in Statia, the topic appears to be a bit of a non-issue. The elected representatives also had to be aware of the legal term and without changes to the legislation concerned that obviously needs to be respected.
Sure, Plasterk may not have kept his promise, but it’s hardly the end of the world. If Isabella did something terribly wrong one could perhaps understand the problem, but no such mention was made.
