THE HAGUE--"Little mafia boss, Mr. Ten Per cent." That is how Member of the Dutch Second Chamber Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) referred to St. Maarten's Vice-prime Minister Theo Heyliger during a meeting of Parliament Wednesday.
And Member of Parliament Eric Lucassen of the Party for Freedom PVV referred to St. Maarten's Prime Minister (Sarah Wescot-Williams) as a "conceited diva."
Van Raak's remarks were not appreciated by several of his colleagues as well as Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Piet Hein Donner. "That doesn't fit in the manner we talk about other governments and ministers. It is not conducive to a fruitful cooperation," said Donner, adding that he had "felt the urge to leave the room" while Van Raak spoke.
The SP Member of Parliament (MP) made his remarks when responding to a statement by Heyliger a few weeks ago in which he had likened the current stringent financial supervision of St. Maarten to "modern-day slavery."
"We are all slave drivers here. That is a remarkable characterisation considering the fact that we paid off the debt of the islands, including St. Maarten, and that we are helping out with expertise. Theo Heyliger is a little mafia boss. He is referred to as Mr. Ten Per cent," said Van Raak.
Acting Chairman of the Second Chamber's Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations Jeroen Recourt interrupted immediately and requested Van Raak to steer clear of using such characterisations. "You should not use these terms because then you do the same as the person that spoke of slavery," he said.
"If it is so, it needs to be said," reacted Van Raak, who called for an investigation into the state and integrity of St. Maarten's government in the same manner as the 2007 report of the Scientific Research and Documentation Centre WODC of the Dutch Ministry of Justice.
"I want clarity on the relation of politicians with casinos, with the government-owned companies and with the issuing of permits, and I want special attention paid to Heyliger's role," Van Raak said.
Other parties expressed no support for Van Raak's call for an investigation and most also denounced his remarks especially about Heyliger. "The Kingdom lives seeing this intense discussion, but qualifications such as slave drivers and mafia boss are improper," said MP Bas Jan van Bochove of the Christian Democratic Party CDA.
Van Bochove said he found it "presumptuous" to keep calling for an investigation or intervention whenever things are not 100 per cent. "We seem to give the new countries almost no time. It seems we want to finish them off after a few months. That isn't conducive to the process of growing up to become an adult. Let's give them some time while staying alert. But we should not shout that nothing is right over there after half a year and some headwind," he said.
MP Martijn van Dam of the Labour Party PvdA accused Van Raak of saying things to get "publicity" and for "local consumption." "These statements contribute nothing," said Van Dam, who did agree with Van Raak that the difficult budgetary process in St. Maarten "created little confidence" in the country's capacity.
MPs didn't respond or get upset when Lucassen of the PVV called Wescot-Williams a "conceited diva" because she hadn't shown up for a meeting with the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT. He said the CFT was being "opposed" - the same CFT, which he said "protected St. Maarten from disaster."
Lucassen said Heyliger's slavery statement was "totally unacceptable."
"The Dutch tax payer had to pick up the tab to pay off your debt and we are being accused of slavery? If Mr. Heyliger is fed up with us, he should stop begging for money and get to work to realise true independence and get out of the Kingdom," he said.
Ineke van Gent of the green left party GroenLinks condemned Van Raak's statement about Heyliger. "You are accusing a person who is not here to defend himself. You flip about the term slave driver, yet you use these sort of characterisations," she said.
Van Gent complimented CFT saying that, "They are sitting on top of this like a pit bull that doesn't only bark but also bites." Van Gent too indicated that she was worried about St. Maarten's financial future because investments and debts would end up being deferred which would not serve the people.
MP Andr� Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party pointed out that the CFT concluded that St. Maarten's 2011 budget sufficiently complied with the norms set in the Financial Supervision Law, but that it remained concerned about the structural tenability of the government finances.
Bosman was clear in his views about Heyliger's slavery remark. "St. Maarten chose and wanted to choose. St. Maarten made a deal and now it doesn't want to stick to that. That has nothing to do with slavery, but everything with a good and reliable government. I find this remark totally unfitting. It doesn't reflect the relations between St. Maarten and the Netherlands," said Bosman.
Wassila Hachchi of Democrats D66 shared the sentiments of concern of the other parties about St. Maarten's finances and the budget. "A solid financial and budgetary discipline is an important indicator of good governance. We are glad that the CFT has approved the budget but we are a bit concerned about the future," she said.
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