article 13 of the charter specifies that there is a council of state of the kingdom. it is (as all institutions of the kingdom) regulated in the constitution, but the charter implies that at the request of aruba, curaçao, or sint maarten, a member from each of these islands can be included in the council of state. aruba is currently exercising this right. this has not always been the case; the netherlands antilles had no member until 1987 and aruba had none until 2000. sint maarten's first member of the council of state will be former lieutenant governor dennis richardson.