Saturday, November 28, 2015

Caribbean Note #52 ~ Referendum Edition

Bonaire Referendum vote YES or NO?

So, here’s the deal with the Referendum on December 18, 2015.

There are a whole lot of very smart, passionate voters on both sides of this issue. With the usual spate of crazy, sometimes racist rhetoric, the issue at stake has been bubbling in one form or another, from World War II onward as countries around the world gained their independence from the colonial powers that ruled them for centuries. Bonaire’s independence or some form of integration into The Netherlands has been voted on since 2004 and will be voted on once again. Some argue the vote is nonbinding and therefore inconsequential. But don’t be fooled into complacency because this vote does matter. It matters a great deal.

You can vote if you’re a resident and you’ve had your Sedula for five years prior to the election and you should vote if you’re allowed.

People who are voting YES are mostly happy with the way things are and people who are voting NO are mostly unhappy. Even though the vote isn’t about if you’re happy or not, it’s about whether to keep or change the current political relationship with The Netherlands.

There is a lot of misinformation and confusion about which way to vote and it’s complicated by the fact that the published explanations and on line debates are in Dutch and Papiamentu (the two official languages of Bonaire) but rarely in English.

The question translates to English as: Do you agree with the current status which is a direct link to the Netherlands? In other words, should Bonaire remain a special municipality of the Netherlands?

If YES wins a simple majority nothing more is voted on.

If NO wins a simple majority then there is another vote to choose between three options, which are Independence , Autonomous Status within the Kingdom, Integration or perhaps any other political status freely determined by the people.

And now the fun begins. The basis of the question becomes very important but you can’t explain your answer you can only vote YES or NO. And the result of your vote is seen to mean different things to different people.

Those Voting NO:

Some of the people voting NO are clearly not happy with the current political status and want nothing less than the freedom of self determination for Bonaire; an end to Dutch rule. The argument here is that independence and self government can be accomplished and funded without recourse to supervision by (or foreign aid from) The Netherlands.

But other people voting NO are fine with the political relationship but are unhappy with the condition of life here on Bonaire. The recent five year assessment by Commission Spies, the official report on the consequences of the change in Bonaire’s status on 10/10/10, is grim and points out the many inequities and deficiencies in the condition of the island’s people as a direct result of changes made by the far off Parliamentary Government in Holland.

These NO voters who never-the-less want to remain connected to Holland see “leverage” in getting improved conditions for the people of Bonaire by voting NO and then negotiating for changes that will improve the quality of life for people living under the umbrella of Dutch Government and money. They say that a YES vote will allow the government to boast that all is well and the people are happy, so a NO vote is required to gain political advantage.

Those Voting YES:

Meanwhile there are people voting YES who are clearly happy with the current political status and have very little compassion for the issues facing the island’s marginalized, underemployed or undereducated people, let alone the poor who have seen their meager resources stretched to the limit by rising fixed costs and eroding incomes; especially seniors and pensioners who, according to the official report, have been hit hardest by the changes made on 10/10/10.

And finally there are YES voters who abhor these conditions but believe that the political forces in Holland will use a NO vote to leverage an already xenophobic government into legislating even less in terms of support for a people seen to be ungrateful and dismissive of the benefits already provided.

These are the political forces in parliament who (since the referendum in 2004) have promised equality but have delivered a separate rule of law whereby unequal treatment for local people is mandated and seen as “currently adequate” for any number of reasons which change over the years but always tend toward asking for patience with the promise that “someday” their lot in life will improve but currently all is being done that is possible.

Therefore these YES voters, who ardently want improved conditions for all, feel the best way to achieve them is to move forward under the current status and lobby for necessary changes and improved conditions through political action and an appeal to “the better angels of our nature” i.e. the good, positive, constructive acts and feelings we share as compassionate and empathic beings.

In respect to Bonaire’s budget requirements (currently around 300 million per year), the relationship between local taxation (around 100 million) and “foreign aid” (around 200 million) becomes critical. The infrastructure of Bonaire and the regulatory climate for business has improved dramatically since 10/10/10, but as the Spies Commission Report demonstrates, the impact on the quality of life for most local people has been adversely impacted by those same changes.

So these YES voters do not want to risk losing the money (or military protection in this potentially unstable region) currently provided by Holland but do want to achieve the equal treatment promised for more than ten years but still deferred.

So what happens if the NO votes win?

Choose Independence?

This option will never pass in a vote of the people, even if the vote was restricted solely to those who consider themselves descended from the ancient culture of the island. While there are those including James Fines who argue that “The Netherlands continues its position as a colonizing power perpetuating abuse and violating fundamental human rights and interfering unduly with the local political process”; there are others who consistently out vote them in favor of the current arrangement whereby Bonaire benefits from being a part of The European Union.

Choose Autonomous Status within the Kingdom?

This option will never pass a vote of the people because it requires even more trust in local politicians who have proved themselves to be ineffective and feckless at best and just plain corrupt at worst. And it is our dirty little island secret and everyone knows it’s true.

Choose Integration? (or perhaps any other political status freely determined by the people?)

This option will never pass a vote of the people because nobody even knows what this means. As conflicted as so many are about the YES or NO vote, they do have strong feelings about what they like or don’t like about the current political relationship and how it might look after this new referendum vote. If the NO votes are in the majority this option will be a distant third in the minority choice.

Keep the current political arrangement but renegotiate the unequal status of the people and use The Speis Report as a starting point to redress the issues of poverty and underemployment and poor quality education and living conditions on the island?

Unfortunately this is not one of the current options. The argument was expressed by Sean Paton as a question of whether you are happy as a second class citizen of The Netherlands YES or NO. And he suggests it’s a no brainer unless you are already a first class citizen of The Netherlands.

But many like Bart Snelder and Michiel Van Borhorst believe if you do vote NO and then ask for the government to behave as if you’d voted YES “with conditions” it stretches credulity to think that you’re in a better position to negotiate than if you’d voted YES and then used the political process to make your case.

All things considered it seems the sensible vote is YES and then continue to work within the system for necessary change.

Just my humble opinion.

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