A consensus national law is based on an agreement signed by the government, and Aruba has signed an agreement. This is the Administrative Agreement. The MEP government signed an agreement with the Netherlands to initiate the process for a national law that the Netherlands had placed on the table.
The fact is that Aruba reached an agreement with the Netherlands to begin the path toward a consensus national law. This means Aruba committed to fully comply with the process leading to a consensus national law.
The Netherlands expects that, since an agreement was signed, the Aruba government must comply with it. In this case, the signed Administrative Agreement must be followed according to the required process.
However, it must be clear that an Administrative Agreement is NOT a consensus national law. The Administrative Agreement outlines the points that must be discussed to potentially become a consensus national law but it does not guarantee it.
An agreement is an agreement, but at the same time, this does not mean the agreement is final. Therefore, an Administrative Agreement cannot be enforced, especially if circumstances change along the way. This is the path the AVP-FUTURO government did not negotiate for Aruba; it seems history repeats itself, as the Netherlands acted on 12-8 without fighting for the signatories who had agreed that Aruba should gain more autonomy on 8-8.
This shows the incapacity of AVP-FUTURO leaders, who did not negotiate or act for Aruba when circumstances changed, even though Aruba was on the right path, had a surplus, and a consensus national law was no longer necessary.
For example, many Administrative Agreements were signed during the COVID period when Aruba faced major challenges. Agreements had to be implemented, but due to changing circumstances, negotiations adjusted the agreements, replacing old ones with new agreements.
The fact that there is an Administrative Agreement (“an agreement”) does not mean Aruba fully committed to it, nor does it mean an agreement based on a consensus exists if no full process has taken place. Circumstances can lead to changes where it is appropriate to say NO, renegotiate, or adjust what was initially agreed upon.
The MEP government agreed to a process toward a consensus national law. After signing the agreement, Aruba began to see positive results from the process, especially when COVID arrived and the Netherlands lacked confidence in Aruba’s ability to recover strongly and grow tourism.
At the moment of reviewing the process, the AVP-FUTURO government did not renegotiate the Administrative Agreement. They let Aruba fall behind and did not act in the best interest of Aruba self-determination. Instead, they left the agreements as they were, requesting concessions that Aruba did not need, even though Aruba had a surplus and did not need the 800,000 that AVP-FUTURO wanted in exchange for Articles 38 and 42 in HOFA, which would limit Aruba autonomy.
The MEP government signed an Administrative Agreement to negotiate a possible consensus national law if Aruba did not bring its finances into order. In 2017, Aruba had received a decree from the Netherlands to address the massive debt left by AVP. Later, COVID arrived, and the MEP government had to manage the devastated finances left by AVP while ensuring the population could live, receive food, and be paid, even under very difficult circumstances.
However, after these challenges were overcome and Aruba was back on track financially, the people voted for the AVP-FUTURO government a government that had previously left Aruba in massive debt in 2017. The new FUTURO party campaigned in favor of the national law, promising to implement it and mobilized Aruba toward a national law today, without consensus from the Aruba Parliament or people.
The Administrative Agreement should have been negotiated while Aruba was on the right path, but the AVP-FUTURO government did not negotiate. Instead, they uncritically approved the Administrative Agreement, transforming it into a national law without consensus, signed by Minister Mike Eman, Gerlien Croes, and Geoffrey Wever