Aruba government not in crisis after cannabis motion rejection

ORANJESTAD – The fact that a majority in parliament rejected a motion asking to speed up the process for legalization of medicinal cannabis Tuesday night, does not put the government in a bad spot or crisis mode. “ We don’t have a crisis. We are stronger than ever,” Aruba prime minister Evelyn Wever told NoticiaCla Wednesday morning in a press conference. In fact she said she assured political party RED leader Ricardo Croes later that night that the process for legalizing medicinal cannabis would be speeded up. “I gave him my word” Wever continued. Croes, the RED party leader and a cannabis user himself, asked for the motion, and it was his main campaign promise to his followers in 2017. A lack of support in parliament could have triggered a tense situation, political observers told this website. Croes holds the only RED seat in parliament and an eventual separation from the current coalition doesn’t constitute a crisis, as the coalition would still hold a slim majority of 11 seats.