As the Netherlands headed into elections, the topics on everyone’s lips have been the EU and the necessary budget cuts. For the citizens of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, who will be voting for the first time in the general election as citizens of the Netherlands proper, the EU is the furthest thing on their minds. The inhabitants of the BES-islands are dissatisfied with their new status. Since its introduction the cost of living has skyrocketed, and they have little recourse have little recourse to combat the onslaught of unfair tax implementations.
On 10 October 2010 Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, collectively named the Caribbean Netherlands, acquired a new status as “special municipalities.” As such, the islands are officially considered “public bodies” (openbare lichamen) under Dutch law, and part of the Netherlands proper.
Since October 2010 Dutch legislation has been introduced incrementally on the islands, “with careful consideration being given”, according to government.nl, “to the situation on each island.” Be that as it may, there have been several protests against the implementation of Dutch legislation. Last year on October 15 during the visit of the Second Chamber on Saba the inhabitants held a silent demonstration, which was the first ever in the history of the island, against the implementation of the new tax structure.
The retroactive introduction of a one percent Vastgoedbelasting (Property Tax), which took effect on August 1, 2012, has placed a considerable strain on the stagnant Saban economy. Local government is already required by law to collect Grondbelasting (Land Tax), which means that now both the building and the property it sits on can be taxed.
This new system of indirect taxes has led so far to a whopping 7.4 percent inflation rate on Saba in 2011. By contrast, the average rate of inflation in Netherlands in 2011 was recorded at a mere 2.34 percent. However, the high inflation rate is not only the result of the new tax structure. The transition to the US dollar as a currency has significantly raised the cost of living. Despite efforts to compensate for the inflation things are still looking very grim for local business owners.
The Saba Merchants Association and Saba Business Association have recently published a detailed report, which contains statistical data and factual documentation of the adverse effects the transition is having on the vulnerable micro-economy of Saba.
One interesting finding in the report is that the significant decline in tourist bookings, due to the increased living costs, is being offset by the large number of civil servants that have been taking up temporary residence on the island. Last month The Daily Herald reported that,
“Dutch civil servants are making so many official visits to the Dutch Caribbean that caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Liesbeth Spies is calling for a sharp reduction.
According to research by RTL News, Home Affairs and Justice Ministry officials made 660 trips to the islands between 2009 and 2012, at a cost of 2 million euros. In fact, so many visits have been made that local officials in Saba, with a population of 1,800, have complained of being “swamped.””
Most of these trips have proven unnecessary,
“One trip highlighted by RTL news was a visit to Saba by the Media Commissariat to talk about freedom of speech on television. “We don’t have any television broadcasters. That meeting took five minutes,” Commissioner Chris Johnson told RTL.”
These “unnecessary travels” are not only costing the citizens of the Netherlands, they are masking the damage being done due to the change in status of the islands. According to DutchNews.nl,
“RTL news asked the two ministries to provide official records of the trips but these often ‘could not be found or were never written’. This makes it difficult to determine the purpose of the trip, the broadcaster says.”
However, the Saba Merchants Association and Saba Business Association have been pressing for more clarity. Sabanews.nl reports,
“The associations will also be requesting investigations into how the funds are being spent on the island, how much cash injection these investments are contributing to the local economy and how much is being spent into consultants and studies that have no benefit to the island other than to justify the credibility of the laws and policies stemming from this new constitutional status.”
The situation isn’t much different on Statia and Bonaire. According to the majority of Bonaireans the economy has gotten worse since the island became a “public body.” On Thursday last week (Dia di Boneiru) 150 people protested against the pending election. The protest march was aimed at sending out a signal to the Dutch government that the inhabitants of Bonaire do not agree with the current state of affairs on the island. In an article on Radio Nederland Wereldomroep Aworaki a local resident, Mary Roserte, is quoted saying,
“Today is Dia di Boneiru, a public holiday. However, it doesn’t feel that way. I’m incredibly angry.” [Mary Roserte has had enough. She is holding up a sign above her head that reads,] “You can’t squeeze blood from a stone”. “And that’s the truth. Bonaireans have nothing. I became poor with the introduction of the dollar. 10/10/10 has flung us into an abyss.”
Despite the low turnout these sentiments resonate widely throughout the local community. According to Nochi Willem of Fundashon Bon Gobernashon, a foundation that documents and challenges administrative abuses, the low turnout is due to the disposition of the population of Bonaire; they are not confrontational. “This signal is very significant nonetheless. However, the real result of our action will only become apparent on Wednesday.”
Following the protest James Finies organized an information evening on Saturday 8 September highlighting the potential impact of the upcoming election. Finies argues that participating in the parliamentary election would effectively negate the dissatisfaction with the current situation.
He’s not the only one calling for a boycott. If it were up to Cedric Soleana of the action group Boneriano Preokupá (Concerned Bonaireans),there would not be any voting at all. “The fewer votes, the better.” Boneriano Preokupá is not a fringe organization. Soleana has the support of a number of other interest groups on Bonaire.
Similarly, as an act of protest pressure group Nos ke Boneiru Bèk (We want Bonaire back) will be placing special ballot boxes at the polling stations wherein people can deposit their voting pass. The pressure group says it is a vote for freedom.
A large part of the population of the Caribbean Netherlands does not have enough information about the upcoming elections. Moreover, by voting Bonaireans will recognize the Second Chamber and thereby legitimizes any future decisions made. Nos ke Boneiru Bèk rightfully argues that it is an impossible task for Bonaireans to offer a counter-weight to the 14 million Dutch voters in order to be heard.
With the boycott of the parliamentary elections these interest groups are trying to force a referendum to challenge the current constitutional status of Bonaire. Pressure Group Awor t’e Ora (Now is the Time), too, issued a call to Bonaireans to cast a blank vote today. Awor t’e Ora reported that the UPB, a local Bonairean party—two of whose members are suspected of fraud, bribery and money laundering, in eight different cases—is campaigning on the island on behalf of the CDA, a Dutch party. At the moment, the CDA is set to win on Bonaire.
Likewise, on St. Eustatius Clyde Vanputten, the leader of the PLP, and former Commissioner in the last coalition Government of the STEP, PLP and UPC, has been urging voters to refrain from casting their votes.
The former Commissioner of Saba, Will Johnson will be voting, however, he will be doing so in the form of a protest.
Despite the many protests and mounting signs of discontent most Dutch politicians have not addressed the concerns of the inhabitants of the BES-islands in their campaigns. One of the few is Wassila Hachchi, a member of the D66 party and Member of Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations. She states in an interview with The Daily Herald that, “[W]ho gets into Parliament and the make-up of the coalition is relevant to the islands”.
She further states in the same interview,
“Voting is a right that should be cherished, [said Hachchi]. “That right is not given in many countries in the world. By voting you give yourself legitimacy that you have a say. We have that democracy in the Kingdom, so I say: use it. It is your entry.”
However, the brand of “democracy in the Kingdom” is exactly what the various pressure groups and politicians like Clyde Vanputten, and Will Johnson are critiquing. It could easily be argued that the current national-electoral process is not democratic due to issues around representation and access to parliamentary representation for inhabitants of the Caribbean Netherlands.
The BES-residents are able to vote on 18 parties, none of which are local parties. As it stands very few political parties, or individual politicians, have run campaigns on the BES islands. SabaNews.nl reported that “[T]he parties did not made a great effort to campaign in the fresh Dutch municipality [Bonaire] and the information about the elections remained below standard.”
The Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland (RCN), the central information point of the central government on the islands, started an information campaign at the beginning of August to inform voters about the election process. However, many BES-residents including government officials were not well-informed. Bonaire.nu reported that, “[O]fficials at the Administration Office were not properly informed of the procedure and the officials were initially completely ignorant.” Furthermore, the RCN did not “provide information about the various political parties and the parties’ programmes.” BES-residents had to “obtain this information through the political parties’ Websites on which the party programmes are posted.”
It is quite audacious to ask the inhabitants of the Caribbean Netherlands to exercise their right to vote under these circumstances. The question is how informed the choices of the voters will be. Moreover, it remains to be seen whether Dutch politicians are able to genuinely represent this demographic when they have not addressed any of the issues that concerns BES-residents.
Some Dutch political parties campaigned on the BES-islands. The Party for Animals, for instance, campaigned on Bonaire by showing a nature film “Sea the Truth”. The orthodox-Christian SGP party has shown a keen interest in the BES-islands. However, the party has been trying to enforce its agenda on local politics. According to the SGP election programme “Bonaire, Statia and Saba must keep the opportunity to say no to abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage and prostitution on their islands. They should not be forced to accept these affairs. The same goes for the other countries within the Kingdom: Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten”.
The main topics of discussion during the election campaign have been the European Union, the Euro, and the crisis in the Eurozone. All of these campaign issues only affect the BES-residents tangentially by way of Dutch public policy and legislation. In addition, all three islands have their own local economies which are separate from the Netherlands proper. Also, the monetary unit of all three islands is the US dollar—not the Euro. It is hard for Dutch politicians to sell the importance, if not relevancy, of these campaign issues for the BES-residents.
In principle the problems as regards representation by proxy could be bypassed through direct Parliamentary representation, by which I mean instead of voting for a Dutch party BES-residents vote for a local party. Dutch elections are based on proportional representation, which, in fact, makes it possible for even small parties to gain a seat in the House of Representatives. Currently, the total number of valid national votes needed to gain a seat in the Second Chamber of Parliament is 65,000. However, of the total population of the BES-islands, which totals 21,133, only 15,000 are eligible to vote, an amount which is hardly sufficient to gain one seat in Parliament.
To add to the problem, citizens of the BES-islands, who want to register their own political party, must pay a guarantee deposit of 450 USD to the Electoral Council. The deposit will be refunded if the party submits a valid candidates’ list for the Tweede Kamer Election. However, in order to submit a candidates’ list to the central electoral bureau (the Electoral Council) an additional guarantee deposit of 11.250 USD has to be paid. This guarantee deposit, too, will be refunded under the condition that the party gets at least 75 per cent of the quota needed to gain a seat. This means that party needs to get 48,750 votes (75 per cent of 65,000 votes) in order for the deposit to be refunded.
In addition,
“30 support statements must be submitted per constituency where one participates. It is possible to only submit a candidates’ list for constituency 20 (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), but there are too few voters in this constituency to divide a seat. In 2012 about 65,000 votes were necessary to win a seat in the Tweede Kamer. The exact number of votes required for getting a seat cannot be determined in advance. This depends on the attendance.
It is also possible to submit a candidates’ list for all the 20 constituencies at the same time. In that case the list should be submitted to the principal polling station of the municipality of The Hague. This can be done a proxy. For the payment of the deposit it does not matter whether a list will participate in only one constituency or all twenty constituencies. However, 30 support statements must be submitted at each constituency. If there are there insufficient support statements for a particular constituency then the principal polling station will declare the candidates’ list void for that constituency.”
(source: Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland)
A number of new parties in the Netherlands, the Pirate Party, and the Party for People and Spirit among others have failed to get 30 support statements in the BES constituency. This was due to the distance between the three islands. Other new parties like 50plus, the European Anti-Party and the Party of Hero Brinkman did, however, succeed in getting the 30 support statements.
If it is difficult for new parties in the Netherlands to gain 30 support statements in the BES constituency, it’ll be near impossible for new parties on the BES-islands to jump the hurdles to get their investments back.
On the website of Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland it states that,
“Parties represented in one of the island councils and which have registered their names in 2011 for the island council elections, must register their name at the Electoral Council if they wish to participate in the Tweede Kamer Elections. The registration of a name for the island council is not valid for the Tweede Kamer Election. For this, they have to submit the same documents as they submitted for the island council election.”
However, these local parties will face the same practical and financial hurdles down the line: the distance and the lack of necessary funds to fund an election campaign.
Wassila Hachchi said in an interview with The Daily Herald that “[Y]ou don’t have to be from the islands to love them and to work on behalf of them. It is about commitment.” These words ring extremely hollow in light of the various ways the inhabitants of the BES-islands are being disenfranchised. Their votes have, in essence, been rendered ineffective.
The call coming from Statia for a referendumis smothered underneath the discourse of “togetherness.” This “togetherness” is extremely tenuous. Plans to enshrine the status of the BES-islands in the Constitution have been met with a barrage of resistance. Bonaire, Statia and Saba have all objected to the accelerated process which will enshrine their new status in the Constitution. Inclusion will reduce significantly the possibility for future independence.
Despite the protestations the Parliamentary Committee for the Interior and Kingdom Relations saw no reason to postpone handling the bill. In fact, the Parliamentary Committee even decided to forgo the formal second round of written questions. At the moment, the amendment has been postponed due to the resignation of the Cabinet until after the elections, which means that the new status of the islands can be enshrined in the Constitution at the earliest in 2017. The resignation of the Cabinet in April was a blessing in disguise for the BES-islands.
Despite this blatant act of colonial self-assertion Hachchi opines that,
“The old attitude in the Kingdom that The Netherlands is the most powerful and thus the boss, and that the islands are the victim is a mindset that must be changed, according to Hachchi. “No longer the we-versus-they [sic.] thing. I am convinced that tackling and solving things together in the Kingdom is a matter of attitude, of cooperation. That is where it starts, that is where it fails, that is where the opportunities are”
Colonialism is deeply implicated in the structures and practices of “democracy in the Kingdom”, of everyday politics in the Netherlands. It is embodied not only in the ideologies and visions, but also in the conventions, customs, beliefs, traditions and institutions. The morality that “democracy in the Kingdom” prides itself on has a long history of marginalizing and disenfranchising people of colour in the Caribbean. Yet it is presented as a democracy of clear conscience, and therefore pursued without compunction, without doubts or reservations, and more importantly without sleepless nights. It is a democracy that has been fused with the idea of the nation-state and as such promotes solely the interests of the nation-state.
The irony is that the relational sentiments contained within Hachchi’s statement can be transposed to describe the perceived relationship between the European Union and the Netherlands. The EU is seen as “the most powerful and thus the boss” whereas the Netherlands is perceived as “the vicim.” The matter of the fact is that when it comes to the EU there is a substantial amount of people who see the relationship as a “we-versus-they”.
While mainstream political parties are duking it out over who’s more pro-, or anti-EU, the issues and concerns of the BES-residents, who are, in effect, collateral damage, go unaddressed.