BES laws in Dutch Parliament Thursday

March 04, 2010 4:22 AM

THE HAGUE--The handling of the first package of laws for the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in the Dutch Parliament's Second Chamber will go ahead on Thursday as planned, Parliament's Permanent Committee for Antillean and Aruban Affairs NAAZ decided on Tuesday.

A majority of the parties present at Tuesday's meeting gave the go-ahead, overruling the small minority that opposed the handling of the seven BES laws on Thursday. The objections by the Party for Freedom PVV and Socialist Party (SP) were put aside, and NAAZ Chairman Willibrord van Beek decided to follow the wishes of the majority that wanted to go ahead with the handling.

No definite decision was made Tuesday as to whether to handle the Kingdom Consensus laws next. Three parties SP, PVV and the liberal democratic VVD declared the Kingdom Consensus laws "controversial" and objected to the handling of these laws in the near future.

Van Beek decided to leave the choice of whether to handle the Kingdom Consensus laws or declare them controversial up to the Second Chamber. Van Beek said he would send a report containing the positions of the parties to Second Chamber Chairwoman Gerdi Verbeet, so Parliament could decide on the fate of these laws in a plenary session next week.

The discussion Tuesday centred on how to interpret the definition of a "substantial small minority," and the tradition of the Dutch Parliament to respect the wishes of that small minority when it wanted law proposals declared controversial.

3 March 2010