ORANJESTAD – Aruba is also in the middle of a coalition crisis, the most serious ever. Last Friday, the coalition party POR has withdrawn support from their minister, Marisol Lopez-Tromp. Party leader and also justice minister Andin Bikker, and POR statesmen Dellanire Maduro and Allan Howell, have informed the prime minister of Aruba in writing that they do not support the minister and that the minister of justice will no longer attend the council of ministers as long as Marisol Lopez -Tromp is part of that, and that parliament will be asked to withdraw support from the minister.
Already on June 4, they indicated in a press conference that they had no confidence in Minister Lopez-Tromp. Minister Lopez-Tromp contested the allegations in a press conference the following day. What became clear was that there is a serious communication problem within the party. The Prime Minister and the coalition partners have asked both parties to resolve the deadlock internally, because the people of Aruba are not served by the Covid crisis.
Subsequently, the party announced that it will start a mediation process. Apparently, this did not produce the desired result, according to the party, because Minister Lopez-Tromp never showed up, wanted to have no contact with parliament members of the POR party, and made no attempt to get out of the impasse.
The Council of Ministers subsequently heard Minister Lopez-Tromp the same day, in a conversation of more than two hours. Minister Lopez-Tromp has indicated that she believes that she should act not in line with party interests, but in line with government policy, and that she was busy fighting corruption, sometimes against prominent POR figures, and keeping things in order.
Prime Minister Wever-Croes indicated that this is very unfortunate that a problem within a party is escalating to a problem within the coalition. There are so many other things that need urgent attention now. The coalition leaders have decided that a mediation process will be started immediately by the coalition parties, to get out of the impasse.
This has led to an unworkable situation immediately in the Council of Ministers, said the Prime Minister in a letter to Minister Lopez-Tromp dated July 24, 2020. In it, the Prime Minister informs that for the sake of stability and responsible and effective government of Aruba, the Council of Ministers has decided to deprive Minister Lopez-Tromp of her responsibilities of Spatial Planning, Infrastructure and Environment portfolio, and to place these temporarily under the Minister of General Affairs.
Minister Lopez-Tromp, as a minister without portfolio, is charged with the specific task of “process improvement and economic reactivation (fast track projects)”. Of course, the Parliament of Aruba have the final say in this, if the mediation process of the coalition partners does not lead to a solution, and parties must then turn to parliament. How long this process will take cannot be said in advance.
To prevent a crisis in the government, the solution was chosen for a minister without portfolio with a specific task. This is the only constitutionally permissible way to quickly get out of the impasse, while parliament goes through the particularly important process. Withdrawing support from a minister should not be taken lightly.
“Aruba is facing a socio-economic crisis of unprecedented magnitude, with all priorities currently focused on that.
I regret that the internal conflict situation of a coalition party jeopardizes the unity of government policy. It is therefore important to find a way that does justice to the legitimate expectations of all concerned.
I also regret that this step had to be taken, because there are several investigations within the Ministry of Marisol Lopez-Tromp, both administrative and criminal. For this reason, it has been decided that the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Infrastructure and the Environment will come under my responsibility, in order to guarantee that these investigations can continue as normal, and because other investigations that have not been launched for unknown reasons can now also be started.
The COVID crisis and the current negotiations with the Netherlands about liquidity support demand 100% attention 24/7. I need to be able to make important decisions with the other ministers at all times, including at midnight and also on weekends.
A paralyzed government due to this unworkable situation in the Council of Ministers does not serve the interests of the country. It is not a “nice” decision, but it is a necessary decision in these times to guarantee the continuity of the board. I have not been able to make nice decisions for a long time, they will come again when we are out of the crisis,” said Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes.