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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Maverick Antillean minister removed due to his support for Chavez's revolution |
| 2005-05-21 |
| Maverick Antillean minister removed MPs in the Netherlands Antilles parliament have passed a vote of no confidence vote in deputy prime minister Errol Cova and another of member of his PLKP party, after a bitter fued with Prime minister Ettiene Ys. It means the two have been expelled from the government. The problems in the government stem from controversial comments made by Mr Cova during a visit to Venezuela two weeks ago. He is reported to have heaped praise on president Hugo Chavez. This did not go down well with prime minister Ys and the government of the Netherlands, which is responsible for the international relations of the Antilles. Final warning defied "He (had given) him a final warning following a similar incident a few months ago", explains Mike Willemse the Editor of the Curacao-based Amigoe newspaper. Mr Ys' patience with his wayward minister finally snapped, after a defiant Mr Cova declared he does not have to answer to anyone except his own party in the coalition and to the people of the Netherlands Antilles. "This was sufficient reason for the prime minister to state that there was no space for him and Mr Cova in the cabinet," Mr Willemse told BBC Caribbean radio. The issues can be resolved in one of two ways. New elections in the Dutch territory, or the restructuring of the cabinet to exclude Mr Cova's PLKP party. |
| Posted by:Thaiper Crereque2464 |