Constitutional change process
may be delayed, says Dutch PM
~ Balkenende arrives for five-day visit to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba ~
PHILIPSBURG--Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende arrived at the Princess Juliana International Airport Sunday around 10:00pm. He said before coming to the islands that he would not exclude the possibility that the constitutional change process for the Netherlands Antilles might be delayed.
Balkenende starts his official visit official five-day visit to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in Saba and St. Eustatius today.
He arrived on the Dutch Government’s Fokker 70 airplane. The flight left Amsterdam for Philipsburg via Reykjavik, Iceland, Newfoundland, Canada, and Norfolk, Virginia, USA. Balkenende was accompanied by State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, among other persons.
Balkenende was welcomed by Lt. Governor of St. Maarten Franklyn Richards and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Emily de Jongh-Elhage.
The last time Balkenende visited the Netherlands Antilles was in November 2005 for the Start Round Table Conference, the official start of the constitutional change process for the islands of the Netherlands Antilles.
The target date set for the islands to attain their new constitutional statuses is December 15. Balkenende called the date “very ambitious” in statements to the Dutch media on Saturday. He did not exclude the chance that the target date would not be met. “It’s not automatic,” he said.
Balkenende’s visit will focus on judicial matters. He will visit the Courthouse in St. Maarten on Tuesday, where he will deliver a speech on law enforcement and good government.
The arrest of Police Chief Commissioner Derrick Holiday will undoubtedly be part of the discussions he will have with the Executive Council, also on Tuesday.
The PM’s visit will be just before a political consultation in Curaçao during which final decisions on judicial matters such as one Attorney General for all the islands and the Dutch Justice Minister’s authority to give instructions to the Attorney General will be discussed.
Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is also scheduled to be present during the political consultation scheduled to take place on January 16. Hirsch Ballin recently announced new plans for a measure to declare Antillean problem youths in the Netherlands undesirable and send them back to the islands.
A public meeting of Parliament has been scheduled on Thursday to discuss the intention of the Dutch government. The meeting was requested by the MAN, PNP and Forsa Kòrsou political factions in Parliament.
The Antillean Parliament rejected earlier attempts to introduce similar measures to sent Antillean youths back to the islands.
