Act now for a post-union future, Emmanuel warns

GREAT BAY--As stated several times while he was a Member of Parliament and after, leader of the Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) party Christophe Emmanuel on Friday urged the government of St. Maarten to prepare for a future that does not include a Central Bank union for Curacao.

Emmanuel said the statements from Curacao are loud and clear and the writing is on the wall. "If the ink was invisible before, it can clearly be seen now," Emmanuel said, adding that it should have been clear a long time ago.

"I've said it numerous times before, and I'll say it again and again, we need to start the process to move away from this union with Curacao. This process should have started years ago when I warned about the messages emerging from Curacao. Now, the entire government of Curacao basically reminded us in the most direct way possible that we are a junior partner in the most direct way possible," Emmanuel said.

His latest response was to recent statements from the Government of Curaçao this week that the ongoing structural blockage in forming a well-functioning Supervisory Board for the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS), along with the resulting administrative and political deadlocks, has become a serious obstacle to the effective functioning of the central bank as a whole.

According to the government of Curacao, the current situation is untenable. Curaçao emphasized that it represents approximately 80 percent of the economic interest in the CBCS and carries by far the largest share in the financial sector supervised by the central bank within the monetary union. As such, the government said Curaçao bears a special responsibility for the stability and proper functioning of the CBCS as monetary authority and prudential supervisor of the financial sector.  

"They painted a picture as if St. Maarten hasn't bailed Curacao out of the Ennia debacle and as if Curacao didn't cause most of the issues surrounding the bank. And many other examples. But my issue isn't with Curacao. Their positions are their positions and opinions. My issue with the government of St. Maarten and what we will do up here to finally wake up and get out of this union," Emmanuel explained. "They are throwing everything in our face and we are complacent, not acting, as if we are paralyzed or incapable of being proactive."

Emmanuel has long sought for St. Maarten to start the process towards a development bank and carefully examine what that would entail. He has noted in the past that St. Maarten's interest will never be a priority in a monetary union that is heavily dominated by Curacao and at present St. Maarten has too much at stake (eg Mullet Bay) to be sitting idly by while Curacao is obviously moving ahead with strategic plans. "We have to act, we have to move, now."

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