Pieter Omtzigt about the Royal House: time for changes
Pieter Omtzigt about the Royal House: time for changes
Eric Vrijsen
July 24, 2024Reading time: 2 minutes
Peter Omtzigt wants the members of the Royal House confine themselves to their actual, especially ceremonial tasks. He notes that it is impossible for the Prime Minister to bear political responsibility for other, more substantive activities.
The reason for Omtzigt's plea are “politically controversial statements” by queen Maxima and princess's work Laurentien for the benefit victims. As a result, ministerial responsibility is rattling, says Omtzigt. This is what he says in an interview in WE, which will be published on EWmagazine.nl on Friday morning, he believes that a choice must be made: “Whether the members of the The Royal House is limited to their actual, mainly ceremonial tasks, or, where appropriate, an exception will be made to the rule that the Prime Minister is responsible for the actions of the Royal House. '
'Laurentien route' reduced
At the last minute, the previous cabinet allocated more than 2 billion euros for Princess Laurentien's foundation, who Victims and allowances compensates with an average of 128,000 euros. This “Laurentien route” has now been cut back: an average of 80,000 euros. If the budget is exceeded, Prime Minister Schoof constitutionally responsible for something over which he has no influence.
Read this analysis by Daniela Hooghiemstra: Is the Royal House going down because of too many individualistic members?
Omtzigt can justify the compensation scheme, because it concerns severely affected families. “The problem is that a member of the royal family does this. Former Prime Minister Rutte took ministerial responsibility for members of the Royal House too lightly. As a result, Queen Máxima was able to focus on microloans at the United Nations and was able to afford controversial statements, such as about the digital euro. The Rutte cabinets opened that door. That's what we need to discuss. “It is commendable that Princess Laurentien is committed to something that is socially relevant. I'm not blaming her. But we have to arrange things properly. Should it soon appear that the budget for the Laurentien route is significantly exceeded, Prime Minister Dick Schoof is responsible. That is the unfortunate thing about this. It is unwise to invest such activities with someone from the Royal House.Also come to the HJ School lecture with Pieter Omtzigt
Further from the throne
Omtzigt: “It is high time to make sure that members of the Royal House no longer do things besides their actual, ceremonial work. If we do not do that, in special cases, we must remove ministerial responsibility for this from the Prime Minister. This is even more sensitive for Queen Máxima than for Princess Laurentien, who is a little further from the throne. “Laurentien's husband is Prince Constantine, formally fourth in line to the throne. Omtzigt: “Actually, Constantine is even closer to the throne. Should something happen to King Willem-Alexander in the next ten years — which, of course, no one hopes — then, given Crown Princess Amalia's still young age, Constantine will probably become temporary head of state. Laurentien is therefore not excluded from this responsibility. '
Tags
.avif)