Governmental party VVD is completely ready with the agreements between the Netherlands, Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten. As far as the liberals are concerned, the so-called Statute for the Kingdom of the Netherlands can be trashed.
The 1954 agreement, which has been amended several times, governs relations between the four countries. “But if nobody on the islands complies with the agreements, why should the Netherlands comply with the rules?” Asks VVD MP André Bosman.
According to him, the islands do what they want and they turn it into a mess. Sint-Maarten now has the ninth cabinet in ten years and Aruba, which is struggling with a mega debt, refuses to put things in order. “The statute does not work.”
Unilaterally from the statute
Bosman wants the Netherlands to unilaterally withdraw from the statute. “It will be ready at some point.” Cooperation between the four countries must be revised, according to the liberal. The current status dates back to the decolonization of the Antilles. But according to the government, that process of becoming independent is over, the VVD emphasizes.
It is also unclear who should be approached and when. The European Court of Human Rights for abuses in Curaçao, for example, was blamed on the Netherlands, while the country of Curaçao itself is responsible for that.
Bosman wants to “throw the stone in the pond” during a debate about the Kingdom in the Lower House on Tuesday.
