THE HAGUE - The resistance of the parliaments of Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten against the draft Consensus Kingdom Act on Kingdom Disputes has surprised Undersecretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations. He wrote this today in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament in which he formally confirms that he will withdraw the bill.

In his letter, the Undersecretary also emphasizes that he "does not see any scope to meet Parliament's objections in any way." From the fact that he does not go into the question of how to proceed, it seems that the Dutch government is not looking for an alternative.

During the Interparlementary Kingdom Consultation on Bonaire last month, the four delegations agreed that the parliaments of Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten will develop a proposal for a dispute settlement that meets the principles agreed for the four parliaments.