The second cabinet of Prime Minister Emily de Jongh-Elhage comprises six parties and is virtually identical to her first. However, the life of the cabinet is expected to be short-lived. The government’s main task will be to oversee the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles’ current structure. As of October 10, Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius will continue as special municipalities of the Netherlands and will revert to direct rule from The Hague. Curaçao and Sint Maartin will gain a higher degree of autonomy, more say over their own domestic politics, and a stronger voice in Dutch politics. They are still part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The new nomenclature of the latter as “countries” does not mean that they are autonomous entities.
The Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, Frits Goedgedrag, stated that, now that the discussion about the territorial reforms has concluded, the administration must focus on the problems of the islands’ citizens, including youth unemployment, poverty, and crime.
Emily de Jongh-Elhage is the fifth female Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles. She entered the political arena in 1995 as a member of the Party for the Restructured Antilles (PAR). After being nominated as a member of the Island Council of the Curaçao government for the PAR, she served as the President of the Preparatory Committee of the Council and later as the Commissioner of Public Works and Public Housing for the island of Curaçao. She was elected leader of the PAR in 2005 and won the elections for Parliament in 2006. She was sworn in as Prime Minister in 2006.
Frits Goedgedrag has had a long career in the public administration of the Netherlands Antilles. He began his career as a legislation lawyer at the Department of Legal and General Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands Antilles. He served as Secretary of the Island Territory of Bonaire and subsequently, from 1992, as Lieutenant-Governor of the Island Territory of Bonaire. After one term of six years, he became Procurator General of the Netherlands Antilles (based in Curaçao) and, since July 1, 2002, he has been in office as Governor of the Netherlands Antilles.
For more information, see http://www.gov.an/ccg/home.nsf/vContentW/525E5FA0F083E09406256D2B0072D961 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2010/03/100326_nibmar26pm.shtml
Photo from http://www.nrc.nl/nieuwsthema/antillen/article1856470.ece/Premier_Antillen_boos_op_Bijleveld
