Bientôt la dissolution des Antilles néerlandaises

August 26, 2010
The Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles – the States – voted on Friday afternoon to amend the document that controls its relations with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This amendment, already approved by the Dutch Parliament, now makes the proposed dissolution of the Antilles possible. Following a long sitting, Parliamentary Chairman, Pedro Atacho called Friday an historic day. Prime Minister Emily de Jongh-Elhage was also pleased and said that the decision made the 2005 referendum a reality. In 2005, the population of one of the Antillean islands, Curaçao, voted for independence. This led to the Dutch government and the Netherlands Antilles discussing a new political structure for the five-island group situated in the Caribbean off the northern coast of South America. The intention is that on October 10, 2010, the Netherlands Antilles is to be dissolved as a single political entity. The islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten will become independent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius will become ‘special councils’ of the Netherlands.