Gilmar Simon Pisas (born 28 October 1971) is a Curaçaoan politician and the prime minister of Curaçao, serving since 14 June 2021. He previously served as prime minister between 24 March 2017 and 29 May 2017, and as a member of the Parliament of Curaçao until June 2021.

Early life and career

Pisas was born on 28 October 1971. Before becoming involved in politics, he worked as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Political career

Pisas was elected into the Parliament of Curaçao in the 2016 election. On 17 February 2017, Pisas was elected Speaker of Parliament, succeeding Giselle McWilliam.

First Pisas cabinet

On 24 March 2017, Pisas was sworn in as prime minister by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Lucille George-Wout, succeeding Hensley Koeiman. His interim cabinet received support by 12 of the 21 MPs. It included those belonging to the MFK, Korsou di Nos Tur, Movementu Progresivo, Sovereign People and the independent MPs Gassan Dannawi and Eduard Braam. Pisas was positioned as interim prime minister, pending the screening of Charles Cooper. Pisas was succeeded as Speaker of Parliament by Amerigo Thodé.

Re-election as Member of Parliament

Pisas was re-elected as MP in the 2017 election. On 6 June 2020, he was elected as the leader of the

Movement for the Future of Curaçao The Movement for the Future of Curaçao (, , MFK) is a political party in Curaçao, founded by Gerrit Schotte in 2010, which has 13 of the 21 seats in the Parliament of Curaçao after the 2025 Curaçao election. The party entered the island cou ...

(MFK). Being the leader of the largest opposition party in parliament, Pisas demanded the resignation of the Rhuggenaath cabinet in July 2020, stating that it was not supported by a parliamentary majority. In September 2020, in response to the need for Dutch financial support related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Curaçao, Pisas showed some support for a Caribbean Reform Entity (Dutch: ''Caribische Hervormingsentiteit (CHE)''), but stated that proposed term of the CHE was too extensive.

Second Pisas cabinet

Following the 2021 election, the second Pisas cabinet was sworn in on 14 June 2021 by the Governor of Curaçao as successor to the Rhuggenaath cabinet. It is a coalition government of the parties

(MFK) and National People's Party (PNP).

Controversies

Shortly after the formation of the Pisas cabinet, Pisas appealed to the governor that the planned 28 April elections should be cancelled. Pisas stated that a new majority had been formed in Parliament and that there was thus no need for new elections. a majority in parliament appealed to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

(ECHR) to allow the election to be cancelled. The petition to the ECHR was dismissed by the court on 29 March. the ECHR rejected the petition. A resolution was passed in Parliament on 27 March, calling for the cancelling or postponing of the elections. Governor George-Wout refused to sign the resolution, cited it "seriously impaired legal certainty and good governance". The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands proposed, by use of an , to task Governor George-Wout with responsibility for holding the elections. Minister of Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated that the "interim cabinet severely damaged the integrity of the electoral process" and asked the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

for an urgent advice. On 3 April the Council of State gave a positive advice for the proposed measures. The proposed measures were formally taken by the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands the same day. In response to the actions by the Council of Ministers Pisas stated: "the Netherlands is biased" and that the Netherlands was behind the parties opposing his coalition. He regretted the decision by the Council and called it unnecessary. On 28 April, Pisas submitted the resignation of his cabinet to the Governor. On 29 May the Pisas cabinet was succeeded by that of Eugene Rhuggenaath.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisas, Gilmar 1971 births Living people Prime ministers of Curaçao Presidents of the Estates of Curaçao Members of the Estates of Curaçao Ministers of justice of Curaçao Movement for the Future of Curaçao politicians