WILLEMSTAD - Four members of Parliament have formally requested that Parliament President Fergino Brownbill convene a public debate before December 15 to discuss the Council of State’s advisory report on the seventieth anniversary of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Statuut).
The MPs — Seferina, McWilliam, Larmonie, and Elhage — argue that Curaçao’s Parliament must take a clear and independent position on the future of the Kingdom’s constitutional framework.
The Netherlands sees no need for major reform In the
ir letter, the MPs note that the Dutch government has already issued its response to the Council of State’s report. According to The Hague, the Charter remains sufficiently flexible and future-proof, and the Caribbean countries already enjoy broad autonomy. Any further development, the Dutch position states, should come through mutual cooperation, not through a structural revision of the Charter itself.
Curaçao must form its own position
The Curaçao Parliament has previously discussed the matter during technical sessions held in early 2025, which included input from Thom de Graaf, Vice President of the Council of State, and Paul Comenencia, member of the Council. However, not all experts were heard, and the MPs say the process was left incomplete.
To finalize the island’s position, they are now calling for a public debate involving both Parliament and the government, and have asked that Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas be invited to participate.
Symbolic date
The requested debate date — December 15 — carries symbolic weight, as it marks the annual commemoration of the signing of the Kingdom Charter in 1954. The MPs insist that Curaçao’s official position on the future of the Charter and inter-island cooperation should be established by that day.
The initiative reflects growing calls within Curaçao’s political landscape for a stronger, locally defined vision on how the island sees its role and rights within the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it enters a new decade of constitutional dialogue.
