WILLEMSTAD - The government of Curaçao must only agree to the content of the proposal for the Caribbean Reform Entity Act (CHE) if it contains sufficient guarantees to safeguard the democracy of the Country of Curaçao.
This is stated by the Advisory Council (RvA) in an urgent recommendation to the Rhuggenaath cabinet. This advice has been presented to Parliament. Previously, this advice was only made available for inspection by Members of Parliament, but "now the public debate needs to be conducted further," said Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath.
Although the RvA notes that in the constitutional structure of the Kingdom it is possible to establish provisions by Kingdom Act that deviate from the Constitution of Curaçao and from the laws and regulations applicable in Curaçao, the body nevertheless advised the government of Curaçao not to approve the bill of law as submitted to Curaçao. According to the council, in the event of integral implementation, the current proposal will have "drastic constitutional consequences for the Country of Curaçao" because certain autonomous powers of the country and the fundamental principles of the democratic constitutional state are "partly withdrawn from Curaçao, or affected".
In its advice, the RvA refers to the explanatory memorandum of the Kingdom Act, which states that the relevant powers of the entity are not aimed at the entity or other bodies taking over existing national powers temporarily.
The powers are oriented on financial and other support that the countries will receive in the coming years and thus they form a derivative of one of the fundamental principles of this proposal: namely, that the Netherlands will provide the countries with financial support for several years in return for the promise that they will reform and take measures to strengthen their societies and economies.
However, according to the Council, this proposition gives a distorted picture, because the current proposal of the CHE Kingdom Act involves violations regarding ministerial responsibility, the role of Parliament as co-legislator and the budget right of Parliament.
In view of the importance of the autonomous powers and fundamental principles that are at issue, the council advises the government of Curaçao to only reach consensus on the content of the legislative proposal if 'at least the points for attention mentioned in this advice are taken into account. at least to include sufficient guarantees therein to safeguard the fundamental principles of the democratic constitutional state of the country of Curaçao '.
