President of Parliament Pedro Atacho has stated that the official position of the Netherlands Antilles delegation to the Parliamentary Consultation of the Kingdom (POK) is that there can be no change in the future status within the Kingdom St. Maarten is seeking.
Atacho said he acknowledged that the Dutch delegation might still have concerns regarding St. Maarten’s ability to achieve separate status, but this matter was not up for discussion.
"It has been mentioned that the Dutch Parliament has a certain role to play regarding amendments and that they may come up with some amendments to the negotiations instead of just agreeing to the results. But we, as the delegation from the Netherlands Antilles, have made it absolutely clear that there are to be no discussions about St. Maarten attaining a new status of country within the kingdom," Atacho said.
He said any amendment that would present St. Maarten with an alternative status, including the suggested status similar to that of the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, would be contrary to the expressed wishes of the St. Maarten people.
"The people of St. Maarten have spoken, and very clearly, when they decided to vote for separate status during the 2000 referendum. When they did this they were exercising their right to self-determination as stipulated in the United Nations Charter to which the Netherlands is a signatory.
"If there are any discussions or concerns pertaining to pitfalls St. Maarten may experience in the execution of regulations, then the Netherlands, as the mother country, has to give some solutions. But the decision concerning the status itself cannot be discussed," Atacho said.
Atacho further stated that the delegation of the Netherlands Antilles had also expressed to the Dutch delegation its concerns about potential unilateral changes to the proposed consensus kingdom laws.
"Yes, it is true that the Netherlands has right to amend proposals concerning the consensus kingdom laws and that it can do so, but on the other hand, the Kingdom Charter also provides us with certain protection," Atacho said.
He explained that while the kingdom government could indeed make changes to proposed agreements negotiated between the governments of Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles and the Netherlands, the queen could not sign any document until it was clear that there was still consensus amongst all parties. As a result, all changes would once again have to be discussed between the governments of the three entities.
"It is important that the Dutch government remains aware of this and of the long, difficult road we have travelled with discussions and years of negotiations between all the people and governments to come to these results. This cannot and should not be erased in one night," Atacho said.