According to Serena Muntslag-Essed, the expert group helped the National Assembly create a measure to change the electoral laws. Additionally, the constitution needs to be modified. The conceptions were developed by Hugo Fernandes Mendes, Lothar Boksteen, Hans Breeveld, Jules Ajodhia, Jules Wijdenbosch, and Muntslag-Essed. The attorney tells the journalists, “Not Essed, but the team collaborated with the idea of the National Assembly.
The team had previously been in communication with the legislative parties.
The result of the dialogue was that two options had support for change, namely:
Option A (update current electoral system)
Option B (1 seat per district and 41 nationwide)
The government had announced that it would include 1 seat per district and 41 nationwide. This was also the case in the advice issued by the study group led by Hans Lim A Po. Since there was no prospect of the government submitting the bill, Assembly Chairman Marinus Bee asked to elaborate option A. The reason for this was because the government would already be working out option B anyway, so there would be no duplication of effort.
Muntslag-Essed notes that the National Assembly then asked the legislative lawyers to assist and guide them with the content. “The legislative lawyers of DNA have set to work and the team has assisted. It is therefore a bill initiated by DNA and the team has only provided assistance with the elaboration of that law. DNA’s proposal concerns updating the Electoral Regulations and amendment of the constitution.” explains Muntslag-Essed.
