PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Whether the recently held IPKO Meeting with the Kingdom Partners will yield fruit is too early to say but departing Members from The Netherlands are now sure that Member of Parliament and Faction Leader for the United People’s Party Grisha Heyliger-Marten’s mission to right the wrongs of the Kingdom Charter are only just beginning.
On Sunday Heyliger-Marten issued a statement in which she confirmed that partners within the Kingdom had, and continue to have unresolved disputes since the inception of the Kingdom Charter (“het Statuut”) in 1955.
“Since then, Holland has been using its size and power to impose its will on its Caribbean partners within the Kingdom. In the particular case of the dispute regulation, Holland wants to be able to overrule the authority that issues the final ruling. This makes no sense, how can you have justice in a dispute when you have a judge who can be overruled by the stronger party?
MP Heyliger-Marten was amongst several members of parliament from Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and The Netherlands who held several virtual meetings for IPKO this year. “During the IPKO, I stated that it was my first and that I wanted it to be my last. I did not say that because I don’t value deliberations between equal partners about what’s best for their respective constituents. I said it because previous IPKO’s have not produced any tangible results. Unfortunately, this was again the case last week. Still, I genuinely hope that the next official gathering between the Parliaments in the Kingdom will be set in absolute equality as mandated by the UN,” said Heyliger-Marten.
She said, “One fact about which there can be no dispute, is that Holland has not lived up to its international obligations, and has not decolonized the Caribbean in conformity with the UN Charter.”
“Whether the Dutch Government wants to face it or not, UN Resolution 945 indicates that article 73 a, b, c, and d of the UN Charter are still applicable to Holland. That debate has been settled, and the evidence is there. Academic research by Dr Steven Hillebrink, Dr Carlyle Corbin, as well as former Minister Ronald Plasterk’s statements, MP Bosman’s statements and proposals, and State Secretary Raymond Knops’ proposal to form a working group about the responsibilities within the Kingdom are all proof of this,” said MP Heyliger-Marten.
The goal of MP Heyliger-Marten is to finalize the decolonization process and end the interference by Holland. “Only then will the Caribbean Dutch Islands have governments that can take charge of our destiny, and do what is best for our constituents based on our local democratic institutions and processes.
At such time, if disputes arrives, an adequately appointed and impartial judge can have the final say and with a binding verdict.” Heyliger-Marten suggests that in that case, the judge could be from within the Kingdom, the European Court, the UN General Assembly, or the International Court of Justice.
In conclusion, she said, “All the good intentions expressed at the IPKO during those two days will have been for nothing if Holland doesn’t abide by the UN Charter and international laws.” She produced research documents to media houses within The Netherlands Kingdom showing the basis for partners within the Kingdom to jointly finalize the decolonization process of the Caribbean islands during a Round Table Conference during the summer of 2021.
“I look forward to having an informed public debate in Parliament, and presenting a concrete proposal for the process towards the Round Table Conference within short,” said Heyliger-Marten.
