The former prime minister.
WILLEMSTAD-–Former Prime Minister of Curaçao Gerrit Schotte, currently behind bars for corruption, has filed an appeal against the related cancellation of his membership in Parliament.
The move was confirmed by the President of Parliament William Millerson.
Until there is an irrevocable verdict in the case, the MFK-leader cannot be replaced by another candidate on the opposition party’s most recent election ballot. This means that a succession by either the next in line Juniël Carolina or by Charetti Eduarda, as suggested by Schotte, has been temporarily put on hold.
The convict made use of the appeal procedure to buy himself some time in terms of keeping his legislative seat and accompanying salary from inside prison at “Sentro di Detenshon i Korekshon Kòrsou (SDKK).”
According to the National Ordinance on the cancellation of membership in Parliament, the Member of Parliament (MP) who ceases to be a member after an irrevocable criminal conviction has two weeks to appeal to the Dutch Caribbean’s Joint Court of Justice. This is not an appeal against the sentence, but only against losing the seat.
