At the start of his second term Aruba left, which, together with other circumstances, forced Martina to take austerity measures.

During this period the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands was signed, of which Martina later reflected that it laid the foundations for his political activities.

[7] After the 1969 Curaçao uprising the Movementu Antia Nobo (the later Partido MAN) was founded on 6 February 1971 by a group of young men including Martina.

[2] He formed a coalition with the Aruban Movimiento Electoral di Pueblo (MEP), Bonaire Patriotic Union.

Martina and Dutch Minister Fons van der Stee alternated the chairmanship of the meetings.

[14] This led to Maria Liberia Peters of the National People's Party taking over as prime minister.

[10] For the subsequent 1985 general Netherlands Antilles elections the Partido MAN under Martina campaigned against the crisis tax of 10% on income which had been installed by Liberia Peters.

It furthermore opposed several measures regarding the split of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, such as a cooperation agreement and the dividing norm of gold and currency.

Nonetheless Martina managed to become prime minister again after Liberia Peters failed to form a government.

[10] In 1986 and 1987 the economic situation of the Netherlands Antilles worsened with the departure of Aruba and diminished revenue from the petroleum and financial services industries.

[10] In 1986, Claude Wathey of Sint Maarten desired a status aparte similar to Aruba or independence for his island.

In 1989 Martina declared his support for a reform of the Netherlands Antilles, with less strong ties between the remaining five islands.

[17] At the 1994 general Netherlands Antilles elections his party obtained 2 of the 22 seats and subsequently participated in the government of Prime Minister Miguel Pourier.

[18] Since the 1995 Curaçao island council elections, Martina's Partido MAN was member of the government coalition together with the Party for the Restructured Antilles (PAR).