WILLEMSTAD - Today was the opening of the new parliamentary year 2019/2020. Part of the center of Punda was therefore not accessible for traffic early in the morning. As is tradition, the ceremony takes place on the first Tuesday of September. The Governor of Curaçao, Her Excellency Mrs. Lucille George-Wout officially opened the parliamentary year by outlining the policy of her government. She spoke about the current financial situation of the island and what the government’s intentions are for the coming year.

The government’s plans and also the budget for the new year will be debated by the members of parliament in the coming days. Notably, there was only one member of parliament for the opposition present during the official ceremony.

The day before the opening of parliament, the President gave an outline of all the activities of parliament in the closing year. Parliament met 56 times last year. 15 draft laws have been submitted therein. A total of 45 motions were submitted, of which 23 were rejected. The 11 standing committees of parliament met 37 times.