Parliamentarian Dangui Oduber:
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Yesterday was a dark day in August for the country of Aruba. The issue of the Rijkswet had been in discussion for five years, and both the MEP and PPA factions had requested a public meeting five months ago to debate this issue in the Aruban Parliament.
To our surprise, the Aruban government presented this issue yesterday in Parliament and informed the Parliament that the ‘rijkswet’ was already a done deal because, before it even came to Parliament, it had already been sent to the Kingdom Council of Ministers, who subsequently approved it without the Aruban Parliament even being allowed to see it.
What the government has done is unconstitutional, undemocratic, and disrespectful to the highest organ in Aruba. How is it possible that the Parliament was bypassed on such a fundamental issue concerning our autonomy and freedom? We condemn the way the Aruban government has acted, as well as the Speaker of Parliament for suspending the meeting indefinitely. The Aruban government has betrayed our freedom, betrayed our status aparte, and betrayed our autonomy.
When you read the contents of the Rijkswet, you will conclude that it is a surrender of governance to the Kingdom Council of Ministers. The Rijkswet stipulates that the minister responsible for our budget is the Dutch Minister of the Kingdom, not the Aruban Minister of Finance. We must remind the people that the Rijkswet is a Kingdom law over which the Aruban Parliament has NO voting rights. Furthermore, this takes away our voice, the voice of the people, and our right to vote. It will be 150 members in the Tweede Kamer in The Hague who will vote on whether this Rijkswet is approved or not. With this, our autonomy and voting freedom as a Parliament are being stripped away!
The Rijkswet also states that when there is a change in the budget, it will be the Kingdom Council of Ministers who will decide whether the change will be approved or not. For example, if in the future, the government wants to build one of two private airports in San Nicolas, we, as a country, will no longer have a say in this decision—it will be the Dutch government that decides. What is even more condemnable is that the Rijkswet is like the Hotel California: once you accept it, it will never leave.
A government with only 40% of the electorate does not have the mandate to surrender our freedom and autonomy. Even more egregious is that this government, with only 40% of the mandate, negotiated the surrender of autonomy with the Dutch government, which has only 32% of the electorate. This is a complete robbery, and we cannot easily accept the surrender of our freedom and autonomy.
Photo Credits: https://diario.aw/categories/noticia/politica/gobierno-di-aruba-a-traiciona-nos-libertad-status-aparte-y-autonomia
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