Dutch Second Chamber of Parliament member André Bosman has a point (see related story). The remark attributed to Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte that St. Maarten should stop whining or get out of the kingdom was called unbecoming in this column on Monday, especially considering his role as Chairman of the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
However, Prime Minister William Marlin’s statement last week that The Hague should “send the troops” to enforce its pending instruction for an Integrity Chamber wasn’t much better. Dutch Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk even announced that he had voiced his discontent over this matter via the Netherlands Representation in Philipsburg VNP.
It must be said, Bosman’s outrage is a bit suspect in light of his often indiscriminate and grossly generalised allegations directed at the island and its leaders in the past. Besides, the main issue is ultimately not so much what both parties said or didn’t say, but how the issue will be resolved.
After all, although the current NA-led coalition recently made clear it no longer viewed the Chamber as necessary, a National Ordinance to establish such was passed unanimously by Parliament last year. The Constitutional Court subsequently revoking the Ordinance at the request of the Ombudsman for potentially conflicting with the right to privacy and a fair trial cannot reasonably be blamed on the local Government.
This is why it’s so important that the general measure of kingdom governance with which the Chamber is now to be imposed must still be reviewed by the Council of State. It was stated that the objections in the Constitutional Court’s ruling have been addressed satisfactorily in the new text, but that obviously remains very much to be seen.
