PHILIPSBURG--While the delegations from the Caribbean part of the Dutch Kingdom were happy with the progress made across the board at the just concluded Inter Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation IPKO, the Dutch delegation seemed to have had some reservations about the draft Dispute Resolution proposal tabled at the session.
The draft was compiled by Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. When quizzed about the regulation, representatives of the Netherlands delegation told reporters at a press conference on Friday that it was premature to delve into the details at this point. The representative said it was “not the right moment” to discuss the details and exact wording of the draft, but noted that when the proposal is quickly scanned “the text is maybe a little further than we have discussed in May (2015) in The Hague in some topics.
“I think it (the draft Dispute Regulation proposal) is going too far in some topics, because we need to have a discussion (amongst) the delegations in the different countries, but this is not what we have to do now. Now we have to put maximum pressure on government to do what they told us to do in May and that is to come to a solution.”
Representatives of the four parliaments in the Kingdom will be asking their respective governments to give a formal reaction to the draft Dispute Regulation by March 31, in time for discussion at the next IPKO session. The Dispute Regulation was one of the major discussion points at the IPKO, which wrapped up at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino on Friday. At the end of the four-day IPKO, representatives of the four delegations, signed off on a conclusion document.
Chairperson of the Parliament of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot-Williams told The Daily Herald that respective governments are also expected to indicate what steps they will be taking to come to a decision on the draft initiative law. She said the Dutch delegation “has taken note” of the draft and “the possibility for this to be pursued is there.”
“The government of the three countries (Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten) can submit initiative draft laws to the Dutch Chamber, but to have any success it will be good to have the collaboration and input of the Dutch Chamber,” she told this newspaper after the press conference. “To get it formalised, we will need a Kingdom Law and for this, we will need support of the Second Chamber.... The Dutch has committed itself to have a debate on the matter and this would mean calling the Dutch Minister of Kingdom Relations to Parliament to explain and give account for his actions with respect to the Dispute Regulation and they have indicated that this debate can take place in April. “We are all looking towards the next IPKO, which will be held late in May, early June and we want to have some of the reactions from the governments to look at, for the debate that will be held with the minister.”
During the previous IPKO held in May 2015 in The Hague, the Parliaments of the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten reached a unanimous agreement to urge the governments of the four countries to establish a Dispute Regulation. The IPKO supplied a few pointers for establishing that regulation.
In opening remarks at Friday’s press conference a representative of the Curaçao delegation said while this was not the easiest IPKO; parties have been progressing more and more over the years. More issues are also being discussed and the major issue, for Curaçao, has been the Dispute Regulation. He said talks on this matter “took time,” but an agreement was reached in which all parties “came much closer to each other.”
He said IPKO has proven to be a platform where the partners in the Kingdom can get together and discuss matters and try to reach solutions. Parties are now much more mature in the way they get along during the IPKO session and persons are no longer “standing up and walking away,” but are “standing up and confronting” the issues and getting solutions.
Chairperson of Kingdom Relations Committee of St. Maarten George Pantophlet said he too noticed the maturity in the discussions and the willingness of the partners to cooperate. He said at some moments during the talks he questioned whether progress was being made, but he noted that the most important discussion point had been the Dispute Regulation. “This shows that we are making little steps going forward and I hope that these can become larger steps in the future,” said Pantophlet. “All the delegations... showed maturity and there was a lot of compromise on a lot of issues.”
A representative of the Aruba delegation said progress had been made on a number of the topics discussed. He highlighted in particular discussions on climate change, noting that a special committee was put together to attend a forum on this subject. The Aruba representative also spoke about challenges that country had been experiencing with the test requirement for the Dutch naturalisation exams and a proposal was made for the law to be amended.
It was explained that persons seeking the Dutch nationality in Aruba are required to sit the exams in Papiamento and Dutch, the latter of which was identified as being a challenge for persons who have been living in Aruba for many years and are versed in Papiamento and not Dutch. The recommendation is for persons to choose two languages of their choice, which can, for example, be Papiamento and English.
Regarding the Dispute Regulation, the Aruba representative said parties are “getting closer” to finalising this matter “and this means that the end is in sight. We not only see light, but we see the ending and creation of a law and this is due to the cooperation of all the delegations especially the delegation of the Dutch Parliament because they will have to discuss and adopt the law.”
Wescot-Williams said in her opening remarks that parties had frank and open discussions with respect. She said the resolution on the Dispute Regulation solidifies the need for forums such as IPKO.
“The Dispute Regulation was one of the main topics and also one of the hot topics, but so were issues such as discrimination, naturalisation, education, climate change and public health.”
She also touched on the agreements made amongst the three partners in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom during their tripartite meeting held before the start of IPKO. She said parties will continue to pursue the issue such as travel between the countries on an identification card. “There are some hurdles, especially technical hurdles to cross, but if there is goodwill it should be crossed.”
She said the Dutch delegation also had questions about Saba and St. Eustatius, particularly about transportation and these were explained.
