GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Ardwell Irion has raised serious concerns about recent actions by the Council of Ministers that appear to undermine the legal framework governing the appointment of the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Curaรงao and Sint Maarten (CBCS).
According to MP Irion, the nomination of Mr. Jairo Bloem is unlawful and sets a dangerous precedent if allowed to proceed outside the legal requirements of the Central Bank Statute. โThis issue goes to the heart of institutional credibility and rule of law. We must protect the independence of our Central Bank, not politicize it.โ
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Article 25 of the Central Bank Statute governs the appointment of the Supervisory Board, including the Chairperson. It requires that:
The Chair is appointed jointly by the governments of Sint Maarten and Curaรงao via national decree (landsbesluit). The nomination must be based on a recommendation adopted by at least five sixths of the Supervisory Board. Ministers may not initiate or finalize appointments outside this structure.
In 2021, the Joint Court of Justice reinforced these rules. MP Irion provided the court documents which verified his statements: In its 23 August 2021 decision, the Court refused to appoint a Chair, stating:
ย โ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ 25 ๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ 3 ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ-๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ถ๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ป๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ป๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ต ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐ฌ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ 5/6 ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ท๐. ๐๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ท๐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ป๐ข๐ญ ๐ป๐ช๐ซ๐ฏ, ๐ป๐ช๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ป๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.โ
โPursuant to Article 25, paragraph 3 of the Central Bank charter, the appointment of the chairperson takes place on the joint nomination of the Ministers, based on a recommendation made by a 5/6 majority of the Supervisory Board. Now that the Supervisory Board will once again be largely staffed following the temporary appointments, the President sees no reason at this stage to proceed with the temporary appointment of a chairperson.โ
A follow-up ruling on 29 November 2021 clarified that temporary board appointments remain valid only until the governments complete proper appointments via national decree, as required by Article 25(4).
These rulings are unequivocal: without a five sixths recommendation and landsbesluit, no Chair can be appointed not by the Ministers, not by the Court.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Much has been said about delays in CBCS board appointments, but the facts matter.
When temporary members were nominated in 2021, the local security service (VDSM) refused to conduct the required screenings, claiming no legal basis. Historically, such screenings were standard before any national decree was signed. The resulting legal vacuum created a months long impasse.
"During my tenure as Minister of Finance, legislation was amended to address this issue and legally require screening of CBCS board members. Only then could lawful appointments resume.
In that period, a name was submitted to me via a five sixths recommendation from the Supervisory Board. I was later informed that a second candidate was being considered. All nominations came from the Board as required by law. No Minister had the authority to generate or substitute candidates independently," MP Irion said.
"Unfortunately, the current administration has yet to finalize the national decrees of those temporary appointments. This failure has stalled the process of lawfully appointing a Chair and allowed the situation to be misrepresented as deadlocked, when in fact, it was deliberately left unresolved," he added.
MP said there are several questions that the Government must answer. If the government claims its recent nomination is legal, it must explain:
1. What process was followed to arrive at the nominee?
2. Who were the other potential candidates, if any?
3. Were those candidates formally submitted by the Supervisory Board?
4. Which firm or government entity was used to identify or evaluate candidates?
5. Did the Department of Legal Affairs provide a formal legal review, as is standard in Central Bank matters?
6. Who advised the Council of Ministers on the legal soundness of the process?
7. Did the Council of Ministers of Curaรงao approve the nomination and issue its own supporting advice?
Additionally, in the interest of transparency and public trust:
8. Who were the members of the CBCS Supervisory Board during the period leading up to and during the ENNIA crisis?
9. What decisions or oversights during that period contributed to the situation now affecting thousands of policyholders?
10. Are any of those individuals currently involved in the nomination or recommendation process?
"Public confidence in the Central Bank depends on a transparent and legally sound appointment process, not political maneuvering or selective disclosure. The Joint Court of Justice has already affirmed that appointments to the CBCS Supervisory Board especially that of Chair must follow the strict procedures of Article 25 of the Statute. No exceptions exist," MP Irion said.
"As Members of Parliament, we should not support any attempt to legitimize an appointment that bypasses the Supervisory Board, lacks the required five sixths recommendation, or is not formalized through a joint national decree. This is not about one individual. This is about the integrity of our institutions and the rule of law," he concluded.
โ
https://tribune-site.webflow.io//articles/central-bank-appointment-cannot-be-twisted-to-suit-political-agendas-says-mp-irion
