The vote passed without ceremony.
There was no cheering in the chamber, no applause from the galleries, no sense of triumph to accompany the words that would dismantle nearly three centuries of imperial presence in the East Indies.
The Speaker read the result plainly, as if announcing a procedural adjournment rather than the quiet death of an empire's last overseas possession.
The Decolonization Act was approved by a narrow margin.
And with it, the Netherlands formally accepted what had already been true for months: the Dutch East Indies could no longer be held.
Outside the Binnenhof, the winter air was cold and gray. The flags hung motionless, heavy with damp. Reporters waited for statements that did not come. Ministers exited in silence, coats pulled tight, expressions fixed somewhere between resignation and relief.
For years, Parliament had delayed this moment through language rather than action. Committees were formed.
