Decision to expand Island Council BES to be declared controversial postponed

It is not certain that the bill to expand the executive councils and island councils of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba will actually be declared controversial.

At the initiative of Mikal Tseggai (GroenLinks-PvdA), a narrow majority in the House of Representatives Committee for Kingdom Relations decided earlier this week to postpone the parliamentary debate until after a new cabinet takes office. This decision was made at the insistence of the island governments of Bonaire and Saba. Consequently, the expansion cannot be realized until 2031, not after the March 2027 elections.

State Secretary Eddie van Marum reacted with surprise to the request for postponement. He stated that the islands themselves requested the expansion due to their workload and made agreements with his predecessor, Van Huffelen. Van Marum emphasized that the expansion contributes to strengthening local democracy and improving administrative capacity. Just before the House was scheduled to vote Thursday evening on whether to declare the bill controversial, the submitters began to have second thoughts. They suspended their request pending a letter from the State Secretary. This means the decision will not be made until after the Christmas recess.

The BBB faction is satisfied that the matter has not yet been declared controversial: “This law is of great importance to the residents of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. The bill is necessary to strengthen local government on the BES islands and better equip them for the increasingly demanding tasks. BBB wants the bill’s consideration to be concluded expeditiously, so that the law can take effect at the next elections. This will be a concrete step towards true equality between the Caribbean Netherlands and the European Netherlands,” the faction announced today.

Dossier Koninkrijksrelaties