Strong Avestruz Sentence: Will Anything Change?

The final sentence in the Avestruz case Aruba was handed down by the Supreme Court in the Netherlands. The three persons who appealed their sentences, including the former minister in charge of Infrastructure and Planning, must now serve their punishment. But after the news briefly grabs attention, do we return to ‘business as usual’? If so, we forget the broader and more important context. This case is one of many in an entire series of criminal cases against persons in positions of political power. It started more than 10 years ago with the arrest and criminal prosecution of the then-minister of labor. The series of cases did not fall from the sky; it was based on the decision at the Kingdom level that intervention was necessary in Aruba on two important fronts that had taken a wrong turn: public finances and high-level criminality in government. Have we seen any attempt by our political elite to recognize that something was truly wrong with the way our country is governed? The problem is that the lack of reflection and recognition extends beyond just one party. We do not see any desire, much less a plan, to address the legal matters that need to change. For example, why can a parliamentarian remain seated in parliament despite a pending criminal case against them? Our Constitution allows this. Could political parties not reach a consensus that it is time to amend the constitution in this regard, taking the formula of Sint Maarten as an example? There are more issues our political elite must address, such as the possible corruption through the so-called ‘maatschappelijke bijdrage’ (social contribution). We have laws, our Penal Code, that prohibit this type of dealing… In the end, all this also touches on control over political parties and the number of political foundations to raise funds for campaigns.