BBB, PVV criticism of Council of State “quite disturbing” and "not good for democracy”
Council of State vice president Thom de Graaf is concerned by politicians publicly criticizing his advisory body. It is “quite disturbing” and “not good for the democratic rule of law” that BBB leader Caroline van der Plas and PVV leader Geert Wilders openly attack one of the pillars of democracy, De Graaf told Nieuwsuur.
Two weeks ago, Van der Plas said on the program WNL Op Zondag that the Council of State is “too politically biased” and contains “many D66 people.” When the Council of State criticized former PVV Minister Marjolein Faber’s asylum plans in February, Wilders posted on X: “Don’t pay any attention to those unelected bureaucrats.”
De Graaf was quite shocked by this. “We need to leave each other alone and focus on the content of the advisory opinions, instead of saying that the whole institution has to go,” he said in an interview with Nieuwsuur.
The Council of State has existed for hundreds of years and has two divisions. One deals with administrative law. The other provides advice on legislative proposals and government policy. These recommendations primarily focus on whether the proposed law is feasible, and the government is not obliged to adopt them. But if the government decides to ignore advice from the Council of State, it has to explain why.
According to De Graaf, the Council of State is an important pillar of democracy, just like the Court of Audit and the Ombudsman. Criticizing such bodies undermines the democratic rule of law, he said.
He denies that the Council of State is politically biased. “We haven’t issued more negative recommendations than we did with the Rutte, Balkende, and Kok Cabinets,” De Graaf said. “So it has nothing to do with party politics.”
The advisory division of the Council of State consists of 18 members, nominated by the Council of State itself and then approved by the Council of Ministers. Nine members have a history with a political party. Three of them were members of D66, two have a history with GroenLinks, one with the PvdA, one with the CDA, one with the SGP, and one with the Aruban People’s Party.
The Council of State is not a D66 club, as Van der Plas claimed, De Graaf said. “The Council of State has never been more diverse than it is now. There has always been room for people with political and administrative experience. We need that.” He added that it is important that the body has a “politically diverse” composition, and that is currently the case.
The Council of State is an essential part of the careful legislative process, De Graaf said. “Democracy is more than just: the majority counts. Democracy also means arguing and seeking support. You shouldn’t shy away from counterarguments.”
