SXMElections.com

THE HAGUE/ORANJESTAD--Chairman Jeroen Recourt of the Dutch delegation taking part at the Inter-Parliamentary Consultation of the Kingdom IPKO in Aruba this week said on Tuesday, that he looked back at a successful first day with very positive talks on integrity in government.

Delegations of the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands spoke elaborately about integrity in government on Tuesday. "The atmosphere was positive and the discussion very constructive, despite the sensitivity of the subject," Recourt told The Daily Herald.

Recourt was positive about the presentation by Chairlady of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Sarah Wescot-Williams (DP) about the developments and improvements of her country in the area of integrity. The meeting on integrity lasted two hours.

The IPKO opened with speeches by the chairpersons of the different delegations. Recourt addressed the friction between the countries in the Kingdom with relations especially deteriorating last year over instructions given by the Kingdom Council of Ministers.

Recourt spoke openly about these frictions and the role of the Kingdom. "The question is where to set the limits while at the same time arranging practical issues for our people such as good education, proper healthcare and prosperous economies. Friction is not a bad thing, as when you rub something it leads to a shine," he said.

The dispute arrangement ("geschillenregeling") for the Kingdom, though high on the agenda of the Parliamentary delegations of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, was not discussed on Tuesday. The dispute arrangement is on the agenda for Thursday.

The three Dutch Caribbean Parliaments are all facing the same direction where it comes to finding common ground with the Dutch delegation to establish the long awaited dispute arrangement, an organ to assist in solving differences between the Kingdom partners on constitutional matters.

Also on the agenda this week is the use of the Regulation of the Governor by the Kingdom Council of Ministers to give the governor an instruction, as well as a joint norm-system for the screening of candidate ministers.

Both Aruba and St. Maarten received an instruction last year. In the case of Aruba it concerned the ratification of the 2014 budget. In St. Maarten, the Governor was summoned to thoroughly screen the candidate ministers before a new cabinet could be appointed.

The position of the Governor will not be an issue, said Chairman of the Permanent Committee of Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations of the Curaçao Parliament Elmer 'Kadè' Wilsoe of the Pueblo Soberano party on Tuesday.

The issue of the use of the Regulation of the Governor and the dispute arrangement are intrinsically connected, said Wilsoe. He pointed out that the Council of Advice of both Aruba and St. Maarten had deemed the use of the Regulation of the Governor illegitimate and in contravention of the Charter.

"The Kingdom Council of Ministers just put these advices aside and forced a decision through despite protests," he said. According to Wilsoe, this shows that the Netherlands has no respect for the advisory bodies of Aruba and St. Maarten. Wilsoe said he was positive that the delegations of the four Parliaments in the Kingdom would be able to discuss these issues in a professional, mature manner this week so a solution could be finally reached on this matter.

Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Aruba Parliament Rene Herdé said that it could not be that one of the four countries in the Kingdom could unilaterally decide how to interpret the law and the Kingdom Charter, and that the other three countries had no way of challenging this interpretation if they did not agree.

Herdé said he was convinced that the implementation of a dispute arrangement would materialise after all this time. "We have to give everyone the time to get familiar to the idea that no country will lose out. Every country, no matter how small, should be able to appeal at an independent organ when a bigger country takes an unjust decision that harms its interest," he said.

Aside from the dispute arrangement and the use of the Regulation of the Governor, the four Parliaments will talk about energy, possibilities for economic development, youngsters and the youth, education, integrity in government and healthcare.

The IPKO concludes on Friday with the signing of an agreement list and a press conference.