President of Parliament Marlon Sneek confirmed that the HOFA bill will be brought to Parliament for discussion once the advice from the Raad van State is received. He mentioned that the bill has already been sent to the Raad van State, and once their advice is available, since this is a Kingdom law, all Parliaments within the Kingdom will receive the law for further questions and deliberations. The Parliament of Aruba will have time to prepare and debate the bill. If it arrives promptly and needs to be sent to the Tweede Kamer, Aruba can send a delegation to participate in the debate in the Netherlands when the law is discussed.
President Sneek emphasized that this is a consensus Rijkswet, an agreement between the governments, similar to past agreements that were also signed by previous administrations. Government-to-government negotiations are taking place, with the Parliament fulfilling its role under the Landsverordering and in the debate in the Netherlands.
He also noted that there is currently a Landsverordening with a similar structure, which must receive advice from CAFT before the budget is discussed. Afterward, it must go back to CAFT for approval. This structure will continue, but instead of a Landsverordening, it will be integrated into a Rijkswet.
The President remarked that the Landsverordening that Aruba is familiar with matured in 2018, and when it needed renewal, some parliamentarians chose to amend the Landsverordening. “This happened due to the breakdown of trust between Aruba and the Netherlands, and as a result, the Netherlands requested and opted for a Rijkswet,” he said.
If Aruba loses financial independence, he emphasized, Aruba is already under supervision and depends on CAFT. “What we have now won’t change much. The only difference is that instead of the Landsverordening, it will become a Kingdom law, and the topic of discussion will be more focused on this,” President Sneek stated.
