THE HAGUE - The Members of Parliament for the Dutch parties D66, Groenlinks and PvdA have devastating criticism on the draft Kingdom Act disputes. CDA and ChristenUnie also have serious reservations but have packed them into questions. The least critical is the VVD faction.

This is evident from the written input from the political factions in preparation for the plenary debate on the bill at the beginning of July. Groenlinks goes the furthest: the party calls on the government to withdraw the bill and to ask independent experts to write a new proposal. D66 uses big words: the party says it is surprised, disappointed and even appalled. The PvdA fears that the scheme as proposed by Undersecretary of Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops will cause more than fewer disputes.

The political factions are particularly concerned about the lack of support for the law as it is unacceptable to the governments and parliaments of Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten. The parties want to know why the Dutch government has chosen to deviate from the agreements made with the countries in 2010 but has also ignored advice from the Council of State, the wishes of the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation and the Van Laar motion.