Gumbs Antilliaans Dagblad story about refusal to withdraw Bloem nomination is inaccurate

GREAT BAY--“That is totally inaccurate,” Minister of Finance Ms. Marinka Gumbs stated last night in a swift reaction to an article that appeared in the Antilliaans Dagblad of Thursday, September 25, 2025 concerning her alleged refusal to withdraw her nomination of Attorney Jairo Bloem to the position of Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten.

The publication had reported that the Minister had stated this alleged refusal at Tuesday’s Council of Ministers meeting.

“I don’t know where they got that from but it is completely inaccurate,” she said.

“I would have expected that a prestigious publication like the Antilliaans Dagblad would have called me to verify if it was true or not,” the Minister added.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐠𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝:

The publication reported on Thursday that although, according to her, everyone had misunderstood it before and it was only intended as a “conditional nomination” of Jairo Bloem as chairman of the CBCS Supervisory Board, Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs (DP) does not want to revoke the heavily controversial decision.

In doing so, the newspaper said, "she not only unnecessarily brings the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten into question, but also risks a motion of censure or no confidence, and even a split within the government coalition in Philipsburg."

It explained that during last Tuesday’s weekly Council of Ministers meeting, chaired by her party colleague Acting Prime Minister Grisha Heyliger-Marten (DP), it was proposed to overturn the decision taken a week earlier. This time, the meeting was attended by four ministers: Richinel Brug (URSM), Nathalie Tackling (SAM), Marinka Gumbs and Heyliger-Marten (both DP).

Prime Minister Luc Mercelina (URSM) and ministers Patrice Gumbs and Melissa Gumbs (both PFP) were in Washington at the time. Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs is said to have refused to cooperate in overturning the Council of Ministers’ decision of September 16, even though it has caused significant controversy.

In the meantime, Parliament is calling for a public meeting, but many MPs are absent due to IPKO (Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation) in The Hague. A debate is expected to follow after their return, in which various motions could be submitted. These include: a motion to withdraw the decision, a motion of censure (which her own party members may feel most inclined to support), or a motion of no confidence, which could force Marinka Gumbs to resign immediately.

The issue surrounding the appointment of the CBCS Supervisory Board chairman has much to do with mutual distrust about the real motives for pushing lawyer Jairo Bloem forward so suddenly and so emphatically for this crucial position.

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