WILLEMSTAD - The Parliament of Curaçao has unanimously agreed to a joint position of the parliaments of Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba, on the proposal for a consensus kingdom law and the introduction of the Caribbean Reform Entity (CHE) / Organization for Reform and Restore Aruba (OHHA).

The position is expressed in a letter addressed to the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The letter ends with the request to consider the position in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom and to answer within two days after the parliamentary meeting the question whether the CHE / OHHA will be adjusted on the basis of an equal contribution according to democratic principles or whether the Dutch government will inform the governments if it allows the three Caribbean countries to seek alternative solutions.

The MPs argued that it is unbearable that the Caribbean representatives are forced to accept conditions that lead to more poverty and that trample democratic rights, while the Netherlands argues for its own population that it is out of the question to impose measures.

"They are the same inhabitants of the Kingdom," says the MPs in their motion. “Why then impose measures on the residents of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten? This goes against all principles of fairness, solidarity, morality, and decency. Equality, a fundamental right of the Kingdom, no longer applies here.”

The parliaments believe that local governments have the right to look for other solutions that do not follow the mandatory Dutch route, with all the conditions imposed.

“We would like to inform the Kingdom Council of Ministers that - as we are pushed with our backs to the wall by you - we will use our authority to instruct our governments to look for alternatives in the interests of the well-being of our populations,” said the MPs in their motion.

Reference is also made to previous correspondence between the Caribbean governments and the government of the Netherlands in which it is explained that various procedures of the Kingdom Council of Ministers are being violated, as well as international (legal-constitutional and democratic) principles. These violations have also been confirmed by various independent opinions of the Advisory Council of Curaçao and Aruba.

"The proposed CRE / OHHA also does not have a good legal basis and is therefore illegal," they added.

The parliaments regret that counter-proposals from the respective governments have been rejected by the Netherlands and that the Dutch government has refused to reconsider major changes to the original CHE / OHHA proposal.

“Since it is a 'consensus' statute law and because we are equal partners in the Kingdom, we could have expected that there would be a better dialogue and that there would be less strictness with the countries that are going through the most difficult financial time in the history, would be handled. That is regrettable.”