PPA faction leader Eduard Pieters strongly criticizes the lack of clarity from the Netherlands regarding the continuity of the Country Package (Landspakket) for Aruba and other islands in the Kingdom, after the Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations failed to give the Tweede Kamer a concrete answer about what will happen after the current period ends.
For Pieters, the situation is unclear. The Dutch Council of Ministers has shown interest in continuing this path. Aruba has expressed its desire to continue the reform process, while considerable time, energy, and political effort are being invested in another trajectory, the HOFA Kingdom Act (Rijkswet HOFA).
“For a HOFA Kingdom Act, they certainly have all the time. But for an instrument of cooperation that we are working on together, there is no clarity on its continuity?”
The Tweede Kamer deserves an answer Pieters reacted following a debate in the Tweede Kamer on Kingdom Relations, during which a Dutch parliamentarian asked questions about the future of the Country Package. According to Pieters, the State Secretary did not provide a concrete answer. For the PPA faction leader, an official who is accountable to Parliament must be able to answer relevant questions. If the information is not available at that moment, they can indicate that they will look it up and return with an answer. However, simply leaving uncertainty surrounding a process that has been running for months is not enough.
Aruba wants to continue with reforms Pieters recalled that the Country Package is based on cooperation between the countries within the Kingdom and that Aruba entered this trajectory to work on reforms. He emphasizes an important point: reform should not be interpreted as something that the Netherlands unilaterally dictates to Aruba.
According to Pieters, both the previous and current governments of Aruba bear the responsibility of determining which reforms Aruba itself considers necessary for its development.
“That does not mean the Netherlands should come and ‘read us the riot act’ and tell us everything we need to do. Aruba itself must determine where we want to reform.”
Precisely for this reason, Pieters sees value in a cooperation model where countries work together, rather than implementing an option where authority moves unilaterally.
Positive evaluation, but uncertain future According to Pieters, the current trajectory is approaching its end and an evaluation of the cooperation has been conducted. He noted that, in Aruba’s case, the evaluation indications were positive and that Aruba expressed interest in continuing the Country Package.
After investing time, energy, and money, Pieters wants to know why there is no clear direction on what comes next. Therefore, he also calls on the members of the Tweede Kamer to stand firm and demand clarity from the Dutch Government regarding the future of cooperation with Aruba.
Two different ways of treating Aruba For Pieters, an important political contrast emerges here. On one hand, there is the Country Package: an instrument based on cooperation where Aruba can continue working on reforms it deems necessary and effectively shoulder its responsibility.
On the other hand, there is the HOFA Kingdom Act, where Pieters argues that the proposed supervision model directly touches upon our autonomy and constitutional position of Aruba. And precisely for that latter trajectory, all time and energy are found. The contrast is the problem.
If the Netherlands is truly interested in sustainable reforms in Aruba, Pieters believes the priority should be to strengthen cooperation that works, rather than creating more uncertainty around it. For PPA, Kingdom Relations must be based on mutual respect, clarity, and cooperation between the countries.
“It cannot be that there is urgency to place more control over Aruba, but to continue with cooperation that can benefit both countries, there is not a single clear answer,” Eduard Pieters concluded by saying.