THE HAGUE–The debate with Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Thursday to discuss the financial supervision in the Dutch Caribbean resulted in a clash with the governing parties VVD and PvdA, the Socialist Party (SP) on one side and the Democratic Party D66 on the other side.
The meeting called for by the Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations focused on the July 2014 instruction of the Kingdom Council of Ministers to Aruba’s Governor Fredis Refunjol not to sign the 2014 budget until it had been thoroughly screened by outside experts. The discussion was marked by mutual irritation and at times harsh words.
Criticism of Members of the Second Chamber André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party, Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA and Ronald van Raak (SP), who support the Aruba instruction, was directed at their D66 colleague Wassila Hachchi.
Hachchi questioned the validity of the instruction and the handling of the Kingdom Council of Ministers. That is why she has initiated the process to have the Second Chamber request advice from the Council of State of the Kingdom on the procedure of the instruction.
According to Hachchi, it was important to get clarity on the validity of the Aruba instruction as insecurity on this matter was not only damaging to the relations in the Kingdom, but also put pressure on the constitutional state of the Kingdom, and created a precedent for new conflicts.
But it was Hachchi’s remarks about the autonomy of the Dutch Caribbean countries and the responsibility that they carry to make sure that their own house was in order that irked Bosman, Van Raak and Van Laar. “Intervention sounds tough, but a solution is only possible if it is taken and carried jointly,” said Hachchi.
“Things were getting out of hand,” said Bosman, justifying the instruction. “Aruba was falling into a deep pit, and D66 is basically saying let them continue digging that hole,” he added. Van Raak said that members of the Second Chamber all knew for several years that things were not going well financially in Aruba. We were presented the wrong figures. What should we then say? Let them try one more time?” he said.
Van Raak accused Hachchi of pushing away the responsibility that the Kingdom government carried for good governance and solid finances of the Kingdom partners. “We do nothing if it was up to Mrs. Hachchi. The D66 line is disastrous.” Hachchi replied: “I am not saying let Aruba crash into the ravine, but I am saying let’s stick to the Kingdom Charter.”
Van Raak reminded Hachchi that bad financial management, a large national debt like Aruba has and continuous high-budget deficits were a threat to the people of the island, especially the poorer segment of the population. “Things are going completely wrong and the people are the victim. They will have to foot the bill.”
Bosman said that ultimately The Hague, in essence the Dutch taxpayer, would have to pay up if one of the overseas countries went belly up. “The free-for-all ends in The Hague,” he said. He said that because of this added responsibility of the Netherlands, relations in the Kingdom could never be equal.
Bosman said the VVD was opting for equality within the Kingdom through a commonwealth structure. But as long as the Charter is in effect, the overseas countries should stick to the rules. “The countries are shouting loudly that they are autonomous, but they don’t live up to that responsibility. They pretend to be independent, but under the umbrella of the Dutch taxpayer. The Netherlands is the lifebuoy of the Kingdom,” he said.
Van Laar said Hachchi incorrectly blamed the instruction for the conflict between the Netherlands and Aruba. He said that there may have been other reasons, such as the 2014 budget that was eight months late, finances that were not in order and a rapidly increasing national debt.
Van Laar said that his expectations earlier this year after Aruba announced large budget cuts and austerity measures were squashed when things didn’t happen. “Our cautious optimism was not rewarded, because the budget deficit increased to more than 9 per cent, the national debt kept multiplying and no large austerity measures were taken,” he said.
According to Van Laar, the Aruba government “uses labour contracts as unemployment allowances” without any supervision of whether civil servants actually show up for work. This hiring of additional people is putting a big strain on Aruba’s already tight finances. “The situation resulted in an instruction and a hunger strike of the prime minister, which we lament,” he said.
Minister Plasterk, also clearly annoyed by Hachchi’s remarks, said that the security of financial stability, good governance and integrity was the “big added value” of the Kingdom. “I am opting not to look away,” he said, also referring to St. Maarten, which so far has received two instructions. He said that not giving Aruba and St. Maarten an instruction would have been to the “disadvantage of the people.”
Plasterk said the instruction for Aruba was a “wise decision” because things had “gotten out of hand.” He explained that an intensive trajectory of one-and-a-half years of trying to remedy the financial situation had preceded that decision of the Kingdom government.
The minister remarked that the national debt had doubled from 40 to 80 per cent and that this debt didn’t decrease, but increased because of the high budget deficit. He added that the civil servants corps is twice as large as in Curaçao. The many talks with Aruba and the warnings didn’t help. “Aruba was not sticking to agreements,” he said.
Plasterk said talks between The Hague and Oranjestad about the 2014 budget, but also those after that, were proceeding. “The contact and relations are good. I don’t expect a new escalation, but then again, I hadn’t anticipated the one this summer either,” he said. He was hopeful that an agreement would be reached on the 2014 and 2015 budget, as well as the long-term financial planning.