Oranjestad- PLP Leader Clyde van Putten (St. Eustatius), is convinced of the fact that the elections on his island are cancelled by central Government in The Hague out of fear that the deposed PLP/Merkman coalition would win these gain. This is stated by Van Putten in a press release dated today, December 24, 2018.

“I have taken note that, in a predictable yet futile attempt to justify his unlawful actions committed against the population of Sint Eustatius, State Secretary Knops sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament in which he indicated that he spoke to ‘plenty inhabitants of Sint Eustatius in Upper Town’, and that there was “much agreement with and appreciation for the “tijdelijke wet Taakverwaarlozing”

“Interestingly, Mr. Knops did not indicate how many of the people that he spoke to expressed this so-called ‘agreement and appreciation’. As was the case with the bogus report Mr. Knops used to violate Sint Eustatius’ right to a Full Measure of Self-Government, Mr. Knops’ statement and ‘poll’ have absolutely no validity, because they are not backed by verifiable facts, and clearly biased”, according to Van Putten.

Knops sounds like President Bush after Iraqui invasion

According to Van Putten, in making this statement, Mr. Knops sounds like former President George W. Bush after invading Iraq. Mr. Bush also beat the propaganda drum, predicting that the Iraqi people would welcome and hail the American and allied forces as liberators. The PLP leader is of the opinion that, as Mr. Knops well knows, things went entirely different, and the unlawful occupation of Iraq ended up in a disaster.

“If Mr. Knops really believes that these types of “polls” have any type of validity, then I strongly suggest that the Government which he represents honors the “Ipsos” poll conducted in September this year, and steps down right away”. According to Van Putten The Ipsos poll showed that the majority (54%) of Mr. Knops’ “own” Dutch citizens in the Netherlands have little to no confidence in the current Dutch Government. “It is a clear symptom of Mr. Knops’colonial superiority complex that he believes that the people of St. Eustatius have more confidence in him and his Government then the people in the Netherlands do”, said Van Putten.

Van Putten also states that he finds interesting and indicative of the continuous hypocrisy and deceit of the Dutch Government, is that in the ongoing legal proceedings, the lawyer hired by the Dutch used the argument that the three Island Council members who filed the case do not represent the (majority of) the people of Sint Eustatius.

“I find it interesting to note previous Dutch Government did not even have a majority in the Dutch Parliament for a long period of time, and has currently has a very narrow majority”, according to Van Putten. Van Putten notes that, unlike the five Island Council members elected by the people of Sint Eustatius in free and fair elections in 2015, Mr. Knops was not elected by the people of Sint Eustatius, and does not legally represent them either.

“During Mr. Knops visit to Sint Eustatius to sell his unlawful actions in February, he personally told me that he did not want any elections on Sint Eustatius, because he felt the current legitimate coalition government would win again” According to the PLP leader, after the Town Hall meeting, during which Mr. Knops and his delegation were heavily critized, Knops Van Putten that after the Town Hall meeting he was even more convinced that if elections were held, the current coalition Government would score a big victory.

Let polls prove Mr. Knops right

“Therefore, if Mr. Knops truly believes his own latest statement, and has been truthfull to his Parliament, I hereby personally challenge him to retract his statement that no Island Council elections will be held on Sint Eustatius in March of 2019. If he is so sure about the support for his unlawful actions now, let the polls prove him right (or wrong)”, writes Van Putten in his press statement.