WILLEMSTAD – The government of Curaçao has requested additional time to respond to a formal advisory opinion issued by the Council of State of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The advice includes sensitive recommendations such as granting voting rights in the Dutch Parliament (both the House of Representatives and the Senate) to residents of the Caribbean countries within the Kingdom, as well as establishing a framework for handling disputes among the four countries. 

Aruba has already submitted a formal request for an extension, while both Curaçao and Sint Maarten have also indicated they need more time to prepare a thorough response. 

Given the importance of presenting a unified position, Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations, Zsolt Szabó (PVV), is organizing a joint administrative consultation between the four countries. The original plan was to deliver a collective response by mid-May, but only the Netherlands met that deadline. 

The contributions from Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten will be discussed and integrated into a single, consolidated response. That document is expected to be finalized ahead of the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO), scheduled for September.