Netherlands Antilles Government (Political System)

The Netherlands Antilles are an autonomous overseas territory within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Consequently, the ruling monarch of the Netherlands is head of State, and is represented by a governor. Aruba, the neighbouring island to Curacao and Bonaire was once part of the Netherlands Antilles but chose to go its own way and obtained a status apart within the Kingdom in 1986. The legislative power in the Netherlands Antilles is in the hands of a parliament, which is elected every four years. Parliament is located in Curacao and constituted by representatives of the member islands. Each island has its own elected parliament competent in matters dealing with the specific island policy. Nevertheless, the most important State affairs like defense, foreign policy or citizenship remain in the hands of the Dutch government. Since their existence, the Netherlands Antilles have enjoyed political stability. Due to their prevalent autonomous status, the Netherlands Antilles are not members of the European Union, although they have the status of associates.

Recently, the population of each of the islands has voted in favour of a new status, similar to that of Aruba. As a result, the Netherlands Antilles as such will be dissolved at the end of 2008 and each of the islands will have direct links to the Netherlands. St.Maarten and Curacao will become an overseas country of the Netherlands with extended autonomy, while Saba, Bonaire and St. Eustatius (Statia) have opted for the status of municipality within the Netherlands. Curacao and St. Maarten will thus remain outside of the EU, while Saba, Bonaire and St.Eustatius will probably integrate. Nevertheless, these constitutional changes will not affect the ultimate control the Dutch government has over the islands with regard to justice, legislation and other sectors. Although the islands Curacao and St. Maarten advocate in favour of a very large autonomy, ultimately they depend on the Netherlands for financial aid and debt relief.