Fredis Jose Refunjol (born 19 December 1950) is a retired Aruban politician who served as the third

governor of Aruba The governor of Aruba (; ) is the representative on Aruba of the Dutch monarch. The governor's duties are twofold; he represents and guards the general interests of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is head of the Aruban government. He is acco ...

from 2004 to 2016. Originally a teacher, he has served as a government official for the past twenty years, starting as a member of the Parliament of Aruba.

Early life

Fredis Jose Refunjol was born in Aruba,

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

, on 19 December 1950.Refunjol, Fredis
Curriculum Vitae
Accessed 16 June 2009. Refunjol obtained his Junior High School ( mulo) diploma in 1968 and his college ( havo) diploma in 1970. Three years later, in 1973, he graduated from the Aruba Teacher-Training Academy and was certified as a teacher. Upon graduation, he secured employment at the Heilige Hart College in Savaneta as a teacher. He taught there for eight years before becoming principal in 1981.

Career

Refunjol joined the People's Electoral Movement (MEP) in 1983. The next year he became the party's vice president, holding that position until 1987, when he was named as the party Secretary General (effective 1988). While serving as party vice president, he stood as a candidate in Aruba's first parliamentary elections in 1986, where he was elected to the Parliament of Aruba. In 1989, he was the informateur during both the formation of the first cabinet of Prime Minister Oduber (Oduber I) and that of the second cabinet (Oduber II) formed in 1993. After the first cabinet was formed, he was named Minister of Welfare, serving until the MEP lost the 1994 Aruban general election. Following his party's defeat in the 1994 election, Refunjol became a member of the Parliament of Aruba once more. After seven years in the opposition, the MEP won the 2001 general election, after which Refunjol served as

formateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...

for the third Oduber cabinet (Oduber III), and consequently became its Minister of Education and Administrative Affairs, in addition to becoming Vice Prime Minister. In 2004, the term of Governor

Olindo Koolman Olindo Koolman (born 15 April 1942) was an Aruban politician who served as the second governor of Aruba and served two terms of six years as governor from 29 January 1992 until 11 August 2004. Biography Koolman was born on 15 April 1942 in Aruba ...

expired; restricted by term limits, he was not reappointed by the Queen. Due to the extent of his government experience, Refunjol was appointed by royal decree as Koolman's successor, assuming the office of governor on 1 May 2004. During his nomination proceedings, he enjoyed the unanimous support of the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for his candidacy. As a result of the apolitical nature of his office, he was required to tender his resignation from both the parliament and his party, immediately upon taking office and was barred from politics until his service as governor was complete.

Awards

On 8 December 2016, Refunjol was promoted to Commander in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Personal life

He is married to Clarette Maria de Lourdes Refunjol-Lopez. Together they have two daughters (Cheryl and Zanette) and one son (Fredis).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Refunjol, Fredis 1950 births Living people Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Governors of Aruba Government ministers of Aruba Members of the Estates of Aruba People's Electoral Movement (Aruba) politicians