Caribbean politicians in The Hague: 'What's the point of these meetings?'

THE HAGUE - This week the parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands are in The Hague for their interparliamentary meetings. Apart from discussions and presentations, there are few concrete goals. Some MPs wonder what the point of these meetings is.  

 

The Caribbean MPs want to talk about democracy, the slavery past and how best to resolve quarrels with the Netherlands. On Monday, the islands first spoke to each other about being one against the Netherlands. From Tuesday to Friday, talks will take place with 'the Netherlands power block'.  

 

"What's the point of these meetings?" 

 

Several Caribbean MPs express their irritation about this Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO). “What I am curious about is what Dutch politicians have to say this week about colonialism and the slavery past. We have never heard of them before”, says Member of Parliament Melissa Gumbs (PFP, Sint Maarten) in the corridors.  

 

“But we keep repeating the existing discussions. I would rather we talked here about the poor flight connection between the different islands. You have to solve that together and very quickly.”  

 

“We may not have talked about major themes, but we did talk about other important things such as BSN numbers for students,” responds Curaçao MP Sheldry Osepa. “There will be another appointment list this Friday.” 

 

“People think that such a consultation is pointless. But the fact that you will soon be able to call other parliamentarians more easily to solve problems, that helps. The fact that Member of Parliament Mercelina (PNP) pays out of his own pocket to be present here, that says something, doesn't it?" 

 

‘Stop with just talking, time to keep to agreements’ 

 

UDP leader Sarah Wescott-Williams (Sint Maartin) is critical. “Yes, I believe it is important that we continue with these meetings. But only if we implement all those agreements, because that is still the problem. We always start over again.”  

 

Sint Maarten therefore comes up with a proposal: from now on the parliaments of the three Caribbean countries must meet a few times a year. “Three to four times a year”, says the Sint Maarten parliament chair Grisha Heyliger-Marten (UPP). “To take steps.”  

 

“The parliamentarians wanted to hold meetings quickly because today's three-country meeting was coming up. That has to be different. And from now on, there must be feedback on the agreements made: what can we mark as done, what still needs to be done and how are we going to tackle it. Otherwise, we will continue to do the same: just talk and talk.” 

 

Member of Parliament Giselle McWilliam (Curaçao) thinks it's a good idea to get together more often. “But”, she says, “the MPs go to The Hague on behalf of their own party, not as one parliament. On the one hand, you can have an open and honest discussion with each other in this way, but on the other hand: it remains more difficult to realize things.”  

 

Diplomacy is sometimes underestimated by the public, says McWilliam. “There are so many decisions that are made by the Netherlands for our islands, for example about a citizen service number or student debts. If we don't maintain a personal relationship, it is more difficult to represent our interests.”  

 

Democratic deficit 

 

The conversations behind closed doors make sense, says Member of Parliament Miguel Mansur (Accion21) of Aruba afterwards. “We have just achieved a concrete result!”  

 

It concerns the so-called dispute settlement: a bill that should resolve quarrels between the islands and the Netherlands, but ironically this has been discussed for twelve years.  

 

The bill that the Netherlands had submitted has been dropped, because The Hague still wanted to have the last word in conflicts. Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten say they want to submit their own concept. “Some adjustments have been made. It worked."  

 

“And we are going to the House of Representatives in a moment. At the invitation of the D66 party, we are going to talk about the democratic deficit, so that our people can have more say in the Kingdom.” 




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