Late last night, the 2026 National Budget of the Country of Aruba was approved in Parliament. However, the faction of the Patriotic Aruban Party (PPA) did not support the budget and voted against it. The reason for this is simple: when the government fails to answer questions submitted by the PPA faction, it is impossible to support a budget that lacks clarity and transparency regarding how public funds—taxpayers’ money—will be spent. For this reason, the PPA faction could not stand behind the 2026 budget.
Nevertheless, the PPA did thoroughly review the budget and noted that it complies with the LAFT legislation, shows a surplus once again this year, maintains a norm above 1%, and reflects a very healthy collective sector. These indicators show that Aruba is on the right path. After reviewing the budget and recognizing that Aruba is moving in a positive direction, the PPA initially decided it was prepared to support the budget. However, when the government introduced a last-minute change in a malicious manner, the PPA could not accept this.
PPA faction leader Eduard Pieters stated that the AVP–FUTURO government introduced a change that ignored and rejected decisions previously approved by the Parliament of Aruba just days earlier. For the PPA faction, this is unacceptable. The change made by the government effectively set aside the LIM of the Country of Aruba, a law that establishes the structure of government ministries and which had received broad majority support in Parliament.
The malicious behavior of the AVP government and its parliamentary followers consists of selectively disregarding the law. But it does not stop there: it also discards an amendment proposed by parliamentarian Mike de Meza, a historic proposal calling for equality within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The AVP–FUTURO government introduced this change suddenly, “like a thief in the night,” acting as “a sly fox,” pushing the LIM aside so that the government can do as it pleases without control.
According to Pieters of the PPA, this not only undermines Mike de Meza’s efforts, but also shows that the AVP–FUTURO government is mocking the Parliament of Aruba and the people of Aruba. This is a malicious and unacceptable practice by the AVP–FUTURO government.