Handling of Kingdom Consensus Laws might be postponed

June 23, 2010 7:08 AM

The Dutch First Chamber is seriously considering postponing the handling of the Kingdom Consensus Laws to mid-September, thereby endangering the target date of October 10 for the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles.

The consideration to remove the July 6 plenary session from the agenda has to do with the fact that the Curaçao Island Council hasn't approved the Constitution for Country Curaçao. The First Chamber was slated to handle ten Kingdom Consensus Laws on July 6, including the amendment to the Kingdom Charter.

Chairperson of the First Chamber's Permanent Committee of Antillean and Aruban Affairs NAAZ Marijke Linthorst on Tuesday called Curaçao's decision a "complicating factor." "As a result new elections will have to be held and it is not sure whether there will be a majority in the new Island Council for the Constitution," she said.

Moving the handling of the Kingdom Consensus Laws to September 14, the first meeting of the First Chamber after the summer recess, would mean that the Final Round Table Conference planned for September 9, in The Hague might be delayed. As a result the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles and the start of new constitutional relations might also be delayed and not take effect on October 10.

Linthorst explained that there were two possibilities. "The first is that we continue the debate on July 6 and suspend the meeting until a later date. We don't find that too gracious because delegations are coming here from the islands who afterwards don't know what the First Chamber will decide.

The second option is that we postpone until September 14," she said.
Linthorst said she expected the parties in the First Chamber to take a final decision on the matter this week. But, she added, "To be honest, they are inclined towards postponement because of the insecurity in Curaçao about the Constitution."

There is also another issue that affects the First Chamber. During a meeting on Tuesday, members of the NAAZ Committee indicated that they were not satisfied with the answers provided by caretaker Minister of Justice, Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations and State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten to the Senate's written questions about the Kingdom Consensus Laws.

The First Chamber had specifically stated that it would handle the Kingdom Consensus Laws on July 6, the last day before the summer recess, under the condition that they received adequate answers from the Dutch Government. According to the NAAZ Committee members' crucial questions have not been adequately answered.

23 June 2010