Caribbean & Central America - November 2012 (ISSN 1741-4458)

*** CURAÇAO ELECTION INDECISIVE.  The former Dutch colony, Curaçao held a general election on 19 October.  The election was forced when the minority government led by Gerrit Schotte of the Movementu Futuro Korsu (MFK) lost the support of the Pueblo Soberano (PS) and the Movishon Antia Nobo (MAN) [RC-12-10].

  The 19 October election was indecisive, giving the PS five seats out of 21, the MFK five seats, the Partido Antia Restruktura (PAR) four seats, the Partido pa Adelanto I Inovashon Soshal (PAIS) four seats, MAN two seats, and the Partido Nashonal di Pueblo (PNP) one seat.

   The result gave the outgoing MFK, PS, MAN coalition 12 seats compared with its pre-election 11 seats, and initially the same coalition moved to form a government, but this time under the leadership of the PS. The PS had fought the election on a platform of seeking full independence from the Netherlands. This was by no means the dominant theme of the election. (Following a popular referendum, in October 2010, Curaçao gained autonomy on all matters save defence and foreign affairs, while its supreme court remains in the Netherlands).  

   On 28 October, however, the MFK announced that it was unwilling to be part of the new coalition government.  Schotte said that PS leader Helmin Wiels was not a serious negotiator.  Wiels’ far-from conciliatory response was that the MFK was scared of the post-election screening process because some members had a dubious past.  He added: “I want a clean government.”

*** JAMAICA GOVERNMENT SAYS NO NEED FOR REFERENDUM ON CCJ.  Jamaica’s Minister of Justice Mark Golding has said that the country does not need to hold a referendum on its plan for full accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).  According to Golding, a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate would be sufficient to legitimize the change of jurisdiction.

  On 28 July 2012, the Jamaican government tabled three bills in the House that would pave the way for replacing the UK’s Privy Council as the final court of appeal for Jamaica.  The opposition has argued recently that a referendum is required, along with political co-operation, to entrench the CCJ as the final court of appeal.  The government, however, argues that 39 former British colonies have dropped the Privy Council as their final court of appeal without having had recourse to referendums and that there is no reason why Jamaica can’t do the same.

*** BARBADOS OPPOSITION CALLS FOR NEW CONSTITUTION.  At the Barbados Labour Party’s annual conference from 26-28 October, the opposition party’s leader, Owen Arthur, promised a new constitution as part of a 15-point plan to improve governance in Barbados by 2016.  He also pledged “an immediate and comprehensive reversal” of the Democratic Labour Party’s policies.  Arthur also pledged to return VAT to 15%.  It was raised in December 2010 to 17.5% in a move to counter a fiscal deficit that had rocketed to 8% of GDP from 4.8% in fiscal 2008/2009. Arthur told the BLP conference that the DLP government’s energy pricing and taxation policies “have raped the private sector and bankrupted almost every household in Barbados”. The DLP won the January 2008 general election by 20 seats to 10 for the BLP, and the next election is due by January 2013.