Over the weekend, once again the Government of Aruba has shown a lack of respect for democracy, a lack of respect for the Parliament of Aruba, a lack of respect for the unions, and a lack of respect for the people of Aruba. Like a thief in the night, the Government of Aruba sent the Kingdom Law HOFA to the Netherlands three weeks ago in order to have it discussed and approved in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom last Friday.
The Government of Aruba did this without informing Parliament, without informing all the unions that are at the table with them in the social dialogue, and without informing the people.
Government is hiding information
When the government turns on a light at a roundabout, they go live and create a lot of drama, but on such a delicate and sensitive matter as handing over our freedom and giving up our Status Aparte, they do not have the decency to inform the people. This is a government that does NOT want to provide information to the people, does not want to be transparent, and is acting in secrecy because they know there is NO support among the people to give up our Status Aparte.
Aruba does NOT want a Kingdom law! In Parliament already 10 of the 21 members are against the Kingdom law, 13 unions representing thousands of members also do not want it, and more than 10,000 people have signed a petition against it. It is obvious that we CANNOT say that there is consensus!
A stab in the back of the people
The government does not want to respect the will of the people and, for a small amount of money, is willing to destroy our Status Aparte. How can the government want us to celebrate 40 years of Status Aparte and then after 40 years take it away from us themselves? There is no other word for this except: BETRAYAL!
CAFT has already given its advice regarding the 2026 budget. In that advice, CAFT points out that the debt of the country of Aruba (debt-to-GDP) will drop below 50% and reach 47% by 2028. From the beginning, when the discussion about the Kingdom law started, the condition of the Dutch government was that there must be sustainable and lasting public finances and that Aruba’s debt must be below 50%.
Well, Aruba has proven that we can do it ourselves, and within two years our debt will be below this 50%. Therefore, we must naturally ask ourselves what the urgency and necessity is to give up our financial autonomy when we have proven that we are capable ourselves.
How can they speak of Love for Aruba?
It is unbelievable to think that Aruban politicians such as Gerlien Croes, Geoffrey Wever, and Mike Eman want us to celebrate living in a free country while at the same time wanting to surrender our freedom and sell our country for a small amount of money. It is even more unbelievable that they want to hand over our public finances and our financial autonomy when, for two years already, our national debt has fallen below 50%.
Aruba already has financial supervision anchored in the National Ordinance Aruba Financial Supervision. Aruba is complying with all standards, Aruba is paying its debts to the Netherlands, and our national debt has already been reduced by 50% after the pandemic. Considering this, there is no valid reason or justification to accept the Kingdom Law HOFA.
The freedom of a country is sacred
We have been a free country since 1986, and thanks to that freedom our country has been able to prosper and progress. We now have the freedom to make our own decisions, the freedom to vote in our parliament, and the freedom to use our funds as we see fit—and all of this will be taken away from us by the Kingdom Law HOFA.
The main question remains: why does the government want to destroy our Status Aparte?