Philipsburg, May 14th, 2021
Ref: finalization decolonization process
Honorable Prime Minister,
In keeping with the motion passed by Parliament on November 5th, 2020, I would hereby like to inform you as follows:
Before and after the passing of the motion and the establishment of Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Constitutional Affairs and Decolonization (CCAD) a number of developments have taken place. Two of those are the following:
• The sentiments as expressed in the Dutch Senate (“Eerste Kamer”) during the debate with the State Secretary of Kingdom Relations on April 6th, 2021,
• The motion presented by Senator Paul Rosenmöller on April 6th, 2021 and passed by the Dutch Senate on April 13th, 2021.
All these developments underscore the need to finalize the process and have created a solid basis for doing so expeditiously.
The core of that basis is the consensus between Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and the Netherlands that the current Kingdom Charter (“Statuut”) needs to be structurally amended.
In that light, the positions of a number of political parties in the Netherlands as outlined in their respective party manifestos where it relates to (the future) Kingdom relations, coupled with the aforementioned sentiments and motion of the Senate of the Netherlands and the subsequent follow-up offer a good opportunity to start deliberations within the Kingdom to finalize the decolonization process.
The Netherlands is an important, if not the main partner when it comes to finalizing the decolonization process. As such, the ongoing formation process in the Netherlands offers all partners involved a unique opportunity to jointly establish the structure for finalizing the decolonization process in place.
In doing so, a simplified structure of the process for the dismantling of the former Netherlands Antilles which took place between 2005 and 2010 can be used as a point of departure, supported by the documentation and research gathered since then.
Please allow me to (re-)emphasize that this process is a deliberative one. It should and will therefore not interfere with the current ongoing negotiations between the Government of Sint Maarten and that of the Netherlands regarding financial support and governmental reform.
I hereby kindly suggest that you send a proposal to the Kingdom Council of Ministers, in your capacity as Minister charged with General Affairs, to initiate the finalization of the decolonization process based on, among other things, the relevant motions of the Parliament and Senate of the Netherlands and the Parliament of Sint Maarten.
The proposed objective is to organize at least one initial Kingdom Conference/Round Table Conference with the six islands in the Dutch Caribbean in the latter part of this year, and one or more subsequent formal rounds of political consultations in order to finalize the process, with a joint technical support team preparing these consultations.
The Parliament of Sint Maarten, in its capacity of legislator, will of course support and facilitate this process and play its part in close communication and cooperation with all involved where and when required and possible.
As such, a copy of this letter will also be sent to both the Dutch Parliament and Senate, in order to inform them accordingly and initiate a joint discussion on the legislative actions required to support and finalize the process.
I thank you in advance for your kind cooperation and look forward to moving the process forward in a constructive and inclusive manner with all involved.
Sincerely,
On behalf of the Parliament of Sint Maarten,
Rolando Brison
President
Cc.: Mr. Garrick Richardson, Secretary General of Parliament;
The Chair of CCAD;
De Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal;
De Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
The Parliament of Aruba
The Parliament Curaçao
The Island Council of Bonaire
The Island Council Saba
The Island Council Sint Eustatius
