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THE HAGUE--Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party is highly critical of the legal objections expressed by Members of the Council of State for the Kingdom to the instruction that the Kingdom Council of Ministers gave to Aruba in July this year. Bosman deemed their position "highly inappropriate."

The Antilliaans Dagblad newspaper on Tuesday reported that Members of the Council of State for the Kingdom Antonito "Mito" Croes of Aruba and Robert Vornis of Curaçao, as well as Member of the Council of State in extraordinary service for the Caribbean Netherlands Frits Goedgedrag, were all against the instruction.

The newspaper stated that Croes referred to the instruction given to Aruba Governor Fredis Refunjol to hold off on ratifying the country's 2014 budget until an independent screening had taken place, as a decision that held no legal grounds.

Vornis was said to have expressed his support for Aruba Prime Minister Mike Eman in a Twitter message shortly after the instruction, while Goedgedrag stated in a recent report as Chairman of Aruba's Council of Advice that the instruction lacked legal grounds and was against the Kingdom Charter and the Regulation of the Governor.

Member of Parliament (MP) Bosman questioned the position of the Members of the Council of State and posed written questions on Tuesday to Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk about the newspaper article. He asked the minister for a qualification of the statements voiced by the three members of the Council of State.

According to Bosman, the statements were "highly inappropriate," especially in light of the fact that the Second Chamber is preparing to seek advice from the Council of State on the Aruba instruction. He asked the minister if it was customary for members of the Council of State to publically state their opinion before handling an advice.

Bosman reminded the minister that the objections voiced by the Members of the Council of State jeopardised the objectivity of a future advice that the Council would be asked to give based on an initiative of MP Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic Party D66.

"Do you agree with me that the outcome of a possible advice is already pre-determined with these biased opinions and that therefore an independent advice will not be possible?" Bosman asked Plasterk.

In an invited comment Bosman remarked that clearly the advice would no longer be necessary if members of the Council already had expressed their opinion beforehand. "They have their judgement ready before the Second Chamber has even formulated its request for advice." He said that members of the highest advisory body should be reserved in expressing their opinions.

The protest march in Philipsburg on Sunday against the instruction of the Kingdom Council of Ministers ordering an in-depth screening of the candidate members of St. Maarten's next Council of Ministers hasn't gone unnoticed in the Netherlands.

The news and opinion website thepostonline.nl on Tuesday published an article titled "Demonstration in St. Maarten against Van Raak and Bosman." The article showed a photo of several protesters holding up placards, one of which stated "We didn't vote for Bosman nor Van Raak."

The article stated that there was a demonstration against Members of the Second Chamber Van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) and Bosman. "The socialist and liberal are critical about the island that is hit hard by corruption scandals," it was stated.

Bosman responded light-heartedly to the fact that his name was prominently mentioned during the protest march. "I have no problem with people saying that they haven't voted for us. But I am defending the rights of the Dutch taxpayers, I defend the position of the Netherlands in the Kingdom and I defend integrity within the Kingdom. The Kingdom Charter gives me every right to defend myself," he told The Daily Herald.