It was a well-orchestrated strategy with an ace up their sleeve. A game where the final say was carefully chosen to spare the feeling of “a partner who was left behind” or to scorn the potential voters (both of the Christian and the LGBT+ community).
What makes this meeting even more remarkable is that the coalition and the opposition were both present, but not in the chamber. The “ace up their sleeve”, Shailiny Tromp-Lee was spotted creeping around the building. This is a member of parliament who, initially, had no objections to that law, but in the end, the strategy prevailed. Lee was in the Parliament building, present yet absent.
She did not actively participate in the meeting. This says a lot about the strategy: Why would you be in Parliament and choose not to enter the chamber and participate? In the end, she practically ran from 24ora.com to not have to give a statement (explanation to the public). Despite it being a controversial law that has the public divided, most believed that it was going to pass in Parliament. Well, that was the thought until after the MEP meeting last Tuesday. In that meeting, they searched for a way to not make the blow too painful.
However, it was painful to see that in the end, tears welled up in the eyes of Parliament Member Misha Raymond, who could not contain her emotions. She believed that her partners in the coalition “would stand for equal rights.”
From the moment a senior convent was called before the public meeting, it could be sensed that something was afoot. They needed to ensure how to count the votes in the end. That is why Shailiny was skulking around, waiting to see if she would be needed to participate or not, depending on the vote.
Beyond this, in the public eye, the vote of each parliamentarian raises many questions, but mainly that of the leader of the AVP faction, Mike Eman. A person who fought for human rights, who celebrated the victorious struggle of different leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Anne Frank.
But for the politician in this case, like many others, religious beliefs weighed more heavily than equal human rights.
In the end, the meeting on May 8th, 2024, is a historic one in Aruba’s political world. For its outcome and the perfectly executed strategy demonstrated that in politics, there is always someone pulling the strings.
