THE HAGUE — Curaçao continues to exercise the minds of journalists in the Netherlands. The political situation was discussed in the popular current affairs program Pauw and Witteman and the Netherlands’ largest newspaper De Telegraaf reserved the entire third page today for the island with ‘Curaçao’s reputation damaged’ as the main headline.

Journalists from De Telegraaf wrote that former premier Gerrit Schotte had caused irreparable damage. “He chases off potential investors with his lamentations in international media about a coup d’état. Some companies in the financial services even consider to pack their bags”, the newspaper wrote, quoting Leo Rigaud from the SFT Bank and Gonzalo Cuales from the Association Business Community, but also politician Amerigo Thodé. The chairman of the MFK spoke up for Schotte”. “It was actually Schotte, who attracted several investors for the island the past 22 months. People are jealous! Moreover, we clearly explained what we meant with a parliamentary coup d’état.”

The newspaper also gave a review of the most important people involved with the current development, apart from Schotte, also the new premier Stanley Betrian, former chairman of the Parliament Ivar Asjes and Governor Frits Goedgedrag and reported in separate articles that the population is divided on Schotte’s departure. In conclusion, the newspaper wrote that the Dutch Lower Chamber would prefer that Curaçao becomes independent. VVD-member André Bosman said the flag would be struck and Lower Chamber member Martijn van Dam (PvdA) emphasized it’s the choice of the population.

Pauw and Witteman

In the TV-program Pauw and Witteman, which showed pictures of the past weekend again with an ominous buzz in the background, another politician was interviewed, namely Ronald van Raak (SP). He described the Schotte-cabinet as a bunch of scoundrels, referring to the damning information from classified documents in a separate pigeon hole. “They are small entrepreneurs, who use their ministerial post for their own trade and for favoritism. But, the local mafia is behind Schotte. (…) Those people should never have been appointed.”

To journalist Paul Witteman’s question ‘what will happen if Schotte also wins many votes this election’, Van Raak replied that the former premier would not pass the screening a second time.

Arie Slob, leader of the ChristenUnie, warned that not all people on Curaçao can be described as being corrupt. “I’ve met many people, who in good faith try to contribute their mite to the government of their island. For that matter, Mr. Schotte failed as premier.”

Mezzo soprano Tania Kross, who was also invited, emphasized she’s happy that the crisis occurred two years and not ten after the restructuring. When asked why the relationship between Curaçao and the Netherlands still exists, she told Witteman: I didn’t choose to become a Dutch citizen; I was born there, so it was given to me. Wouldn’t it be strange if I asked you to hand in your Dutch nationality because you inconvenience us?” However, the discussion on the possible independence of Curaçao wasn’t completed because the program had reached its end, although at the last moment Van Raak said we could strive for collaboration on an unsegregated basis.