UPB explains Bonaire coalition break: ‘MPB chooses bureaucracy, we choose results’
KRALENDIJK — On Thursday, the UPB withdrew its confidence in coalition partner MPB and notified the acting Island governor of this decision by letter, in her capacity as acting chairman of the Island Council. On Friday morning, the party held a press conference to explain its decision.
At the press conference, the UPB explained that growing tensions had made the coalition unworkable. According to the party, there is a fundamental difference in governing style: the UPB says it stands for decisiveness and concrete results, while the MPB, as the UPB claims, focuses too heavily on a bureaucratic and process-driven approach.
A concrete point of contention, according to the UPB, is the use of OVO contracts, Overeenkomsten van Opdracht, a contract form in which external specialists are temporarily hired for a specific task or project. The party argues that these contracts are too often used for structural work, whereas they are intended for temporary specialist deployment. The UPB states that the costs of OVO contracts are significantly higher than those of regular civil service positions, and that this form of engagement is only justifiable when it produces demonstrable results. In addition, the UPB says it sees too little progress in areas such as public transport, spatial development, permits, infrastructure, and housing.
Battle over appointments and pay
The issue of political appointees also caused friction. It is customary for each party to appoint a number of trusted allies as advisors in the offices of the deputy commissioners. In this context, the UPB wants to appoint Roy Martina, former director of the R&O department, and Rudsel Leito, former director of Selibon, in those roles. Both names are sensitive within the MPB. Leito left as Selibon director under a cloud, having been accused of mismanagement. Regarding Martina, the MPB has raised questions about his performance as director of R&O, though the party has not yet publicly substantiated those concerns.
Martina’s name had already been a point of dispute earlier: a few weeks ago, the UPB attempted to put him forward as deputy commissioner after interim political leader Jolinda Craane withdrew her confidence in sitting deputy commissioner Joselito Statia, who subsequently stepped down. The MPB refused to accept Martina as a candidate at the time. The MPB’s current objection to appointing both Martina and Leito as advisors centres mainly on the remuneration the UPB wants to attach to those positions. The MPB considers this inappropriate and politically indefensible. The UPB, for its part, argues that the MPB is going back on agreements previously made. The MPB has confirmed to this newspaper that the two parties cannot find common ground on this point.
Although the UPB did not explicitly address the political future in the two press releases it issued after the press conference, the tone on the radio programme Tra’i Merdia, hosted by Norwin (Nòchi) Willem, left little room for ambiguity. Both interim political leader Jolinda Craane and faction leader Benito Dirksz made clear that cooperation with the MPB is now a thing of the past.
