Chairlady Wescot-Williams recommends putting Bloem’s nomination for on hold

GREAT BAY--During her press briefing as President of Parliament on Thursday, Chairlady of Parliament MP Sarah Wescot-Williams disclosed that she has asked the Minister of Finance to put on hold the Council of Minister's decision to approve the nomination of Jairo Bloem for Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS). "We simply can't continue like this," the Chairlady said.

“My proposal is to put the decision of the COM of the 16th of September on hold. Do not carry it out just yet,” she stated. “We need to address the broader matter of the functioning of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten and the monetary union itself before proceeding with this or any other appointment.”

The MP emphasized that the appointment of a Chairperson or board member cannot be effective unless both St. Maarten and Curaçao are in agreement. She recommended that the Minister of Finance of St. Maarten urgently engage her Curaçao counterpart to resolve the issue collectively.

“Hold off on this decision and get the Minister of Finance of Curaçao to the table to discuss how we need to go about this matter. That is my recommendation to the Council of Ministers,” she said. Wescot-Williams confirmed that she has already conveyed this advice directly to the Minister of Finance, while also raising it in party and coalition discussions.

“I can’t insist that they do it, I can only advise. But my opinion is that we should not carry out the mandate given to the Minister until more clarity is reached. In the meantime, communication with Curaçao is essential,” she explained. She further clarified that her recommendation was made shortly after the COM decision on September 16.

“According to me it was before my travel, for sure. I told my colleagues that this is my advice and that I would officially advise the minister to put it on hold. Since it is a COM decision, they will have to decide whether to maintain it, put it on hold, or retract it altogether. But for now, putting it on hold is the best way forward,” she noted.

MP Wescot-Williams explained that the crux of the issue lies in determining when, if ever, a minister can act in the absence of a formal recommendation. She questioned whether, if there is a delay or snag in the process, a minister is allowed to make a nomination without such a recommendation. She likened the differing legal opinions on the matter to a “Mexican standoff,” noting that for every lawyer who argues one interpretation, another counters with the opposite.

She further raised questions about the procedures outlined in the Central Bank’s charter: what happens when the Central Bank issues a recommendation that a minister chooses not to adopt, or when a nominee withdraws from the Supervisory Board? In her view, these scenarios are not clearly addressed in the charter, leaving significant gaps and uncertainties in the process.

On the issue of outright retraction of the decision, the MP noted: "I cannot imagine any COM retracting a decision without having some kind of argumentation why they are retracting it. If it was something illegal or whatever the case may be. So coming to such a decision would have to precede any type of retraction. If the government, in its consultation and deliberation, decides you’re speaking here of something that is unlawful, then you have a defensible basis. Based on that and with more information surfacing, you can retract it because you can motivate your retraction. Until that time, I think the Minister should just not carry out the mandate."

MP Wescot-Williams stressed that given the confusion over procedures, the conflicting legal opinions, and the lack of complete documentation, proceeding at this stage would be counterproductive.

"As far as I’m concerned, what I as a Member of Parliament would like to have is the complete paper trail, because every time you see one, you hear that something else, and something else, and something else. So my recommendation has been… just put it on hold until we have all of the information. So if you’re talking paper trail, we need every piece of the trail in order to come to an understanding. Because from my opinion a breakdown in communication is definitely one of the issues here."

“We can’t continue like this with missing pieces and uncertainty. The first thing to be done right now is to establish communication with the Curaçao Minister of Finance, not only about the Chairperson position but also about the overall functioning of the CBCS board. That is the opinion I have shared with the government and in my party circles,” the MP concluded.

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