On Friday August 24, 2018 the Kingdom Council of Ministers approved Sint Maartens nomination of Mrs. Maria C. Van der Sluijs-Plantz for appointment to the Kingdom Council of Stateby, the King of the Netherlands, His Majesty Willem Alexander by Royal Decree. In this capacity she will represent the country of Sint Maarten in the Advisory Division of the Council of State of the Kingdom as a State Council as of October 1, 2018.
Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten are each able to nominate one member to the Kingdom Council of State. The vacancy for Sint Maarten had remained unfilled since the departure of Mr. Dennis Richardson in 2013 to become the Minister of Justice.
Since October 1, 2015, Mrs. Van der Sluijs-Plantz has served as the Sint Maarten nominated member of the CFT. In addition, she served as vice-chair of the first Corporate Government Council of Sint Maarten from 2010 to 2014.
Mrs. Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz will be the first female representative of Sint Maarten in the Kingdom Council. When taking into the account the number of women in higher office of and for Sint Maarten, starting with the Chair of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Council of Advice, the Ombudsman and the position of Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague, Minister Plenipotentiary drs. Jorien Wuite, stated in an invited comment that this shows once again that women of Sint Maarten are capable of holding high functions and representing and defending the positions of Sint Maarten. Furthermore, she extended a sincere congratulatory message to Mrs. Van der Sluijs-Plantz on her appointment and wished her success in her new capacity.