SXMElections.com

THE HAGUE--Members of Bonaire’s Island Council on Monday officially presented a petition calling for a postponement of the amending of the Dutch Constitution to secure the island’s public entity status until after the referendum late 2015.

Island Council Members Robby Beukenboom of the Bonaire Democratic Party and James Kroon of the UPB Party handed over the petition to Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk at a reception on Monday, marking the start of the so-called Caribbean Netherlands Week in The Hague.

The petition, which was recently approved by a two-third majority of the Island Council, has also been sent to the First and Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. The proposal to amend the Dutch Constitution is currently at the First Chamber for handling. The Second Chamber has already approved the amendment which, among others, will secure constitutional status of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba as public entities of the Netherlands.

In a 2004 referendum, a majority of the people of Bonaire voted for direct ties with the Netherlands. The constitutional evaluation of the effects of the public entity status for the three islands is currently taking place. Beukenboom said Bonaire has “absolutely no problem” with this evaluation because it concerns a different trajectory.

However, the Island Council wants the Netherlands to hold off on amending the Dutch Constitution to give the people of Bonaire an opportunity to say yes or no to the public entity status in a referendum, which should take place at the end of this year, most probably in the first week of December.

Depending on the outcome of that referendum, a second referendum might be held on the contents and workings of the public entity status. Holding off on the process to amend the Constitution is essential, said Beukenboom. “What if a majority of the people would say no to the public entity status? How would that justify the securing of that status in the Constitution,” he said in an interview.

Beukenboom and Kroon said they couldn’t imagine that the Netherlands wouldn’t honour Bonaire’s request for postponement. “All we want is to give the people a chance to express themselves,” said James. “We just want some time to properly carry out a referendum,” said Beukenboom.