Screening

Screening

15 January 2026

In a short period of time, two ministers and the minister plenipotentiary were forced to step down. This inevitably raises questions about the purpose and effectiveness of the screening process prior to a ministerial appointment. That process always takes a long time; the formation of this cabinet was no exception and dragged on endlessly. At first, there were rumors that several candidates would not make the cut, only for it to turn out that, in the end, everyone was suddenly deemed fit for office.

It brought back memories of Curaçao’s first cabinet. Back then, too, problems arose during the screening process, and at the highest level, there was occasionally a willingness to look the other way — with all the consequences that followed.

Curaçao’s screening framework, formally laid down in the National Ordinance on the Integrity of (Candidate) Ministers introduced in 2012, provides for judicial, security, fiscal, and financial checks, supplemented by assessments of business interests, ancillary positions, medical fitness, and, in certain cases, the involvement of family members. Since a ruling of the Supreme Court in June 2024, this even includes a finding of guilt without the imposition of a sentence.

And yet, things continue to go wrong.

I am reminded of my last conversation with Orlando. We make things unnecessarily complicated for ourselves. Why not look more simply at how a person has organized their own life? Someone who does not have their household in order, who is structurally burdened by debt or fails to take responsibility for their own family, will also struggle to run an organization — let alone a country.

Miguel Goede