September 16th is International Day of Democracy, but in present-day Aruba, few will be able to celebrate this day. It is an important date for us to pause and reflect on what kind of democracy we have in Aruba today.
On paper it’s a beautiful one, Aruba is a state of law where the law is codified and we as caregivers rely on our laws so that we can feel protected when our rights are threatened.
A Different Reality
However, in Aruba in 2023, some 37 years after our ‘Status Aparte’ today we live in a tyranny of the majority. It’s important to understand a little bit how our constitution works. The political landscape in the 21st century is a different one, where the Parliament of Aruba is not only the legislative power, but the government of Aruba has also been given the authority to act as a co-legislator. After the fact that our government has a much more complex task than previously could be expected from our government, today in practice, we see that our system of democracy is no longer working.
A Sleeping Parliament, The Tyranny of the Majority
For a very long time we have heard opposition politicians call the parliamentarians who support the government an “example parliament”, but the reality is that the way our system works will never allow parliamentarians to function according to the constitution chapter III. article 16 “Let them vote without a ballot”, beautiful rule in our constitution, but in practice it is different. Politicians who would normally remain in parliament are elected to become ministers as a consequence of this transition, and people with very few votes enter parliament. These parliamentarians will not criticize their government due to the fact that if they do so the next election they will have a number on the list much lower and as a consequence they will not receive the opportunity to return as parliamentarians.
If we look at the document ‘overzicht van de werkzaamheden van Staten van Aruba gedurende het zittingsjaar 2022-2023’, we can conclude that only five laws were initiated and only six public meetings were requested whereas four were called by the President of the Parliament.
This is an indication of how much our parliament is failing Aruba. We need a parliament that understands that the government works on the basis of the trust that the parliament gives it to govern. The Parliament should realize that if the government will not enact a law, the Parliament of Aruba has a responsibility to initiate the law within the framework of the tasks that the Parliament has with Aruba.
What’s the problem?
As long as RAIZ and MEP embrace each other in Parliament and shout PRO for all the proposals that the government gives up, Aruba’s future remains seized by the tyranny of the majority. It’s sad to see parliamentarians focusing only on their personal interests, but the question becomes: What can we do?
Any proposals to bring about changes in the system?
PDP stands for a politics of Politics, which means that we believe in questioning, but more importantly informing, educating and raising awareness of the people of Aruba so that we can stimulate more participation in the dialogue in the national forum. This means that we believe in constructive politics. Based on our principles and starting point our proposals are:
- It is necessary to negotiate a technocratic government (zakenkabinet), rather than a hybrid one, in which a majority of the four mandataries are vice-ministers, ministers not on a political list.
- Fix the Land Ordinance Installing Ministries (LIM) that regulates the ministerial responsibility of all ministers in our constitution chapter II, so that we can achieve a secure continuity.
- Provide a profile sheet of the conditions we would like our agents to have. Important elements would be: (Examples)
- Education at the HBO/WO level.
ii.Ministers who in the past have found themselves in the hands of justice will no longer be able to exercise the function of minister.
iii.Advice from the ‘Sicherheitsdienst’ is binding.
- Reasons why language is so important:
-This will ensure that Aruba’s departments will actually have continuity.
-There will not be much change to the amount of funds available which will be something that will not fluctuate better.
-Government of Aruba can be better controlled by the Parliament of Aruba because parliamentarians can control the budget through the annual accounts and this will raise the quality of control of the Parliament.
- Negotiated the best ‘Rijkswet Aruba Financieel Toezicht’ (RAft) for Aruba. The agreement was signed by the President of the Republic of Aruba and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Aruba.
- Strengthen the position of the Parliament of Aruba through modernizations in our constitution that guarantee the people’s interest and well-being.
Aruba, together with you we have a responsibility to change the direction of the country, so I ask you to keep an open mind and be part of the Direccion Politica Party so that together we can build a future where we lead Aruba in the right direction!