Pauldrick François Teodoric "Paul" Croes (born 7 November 1976) is a former Aruban politician who served as the Minister of Social Affairs, Youth and Labor in the Second Eman Cabinet from 2013 to 2017. As a member of the

Aruban People's Party The Aruban People's Party (AVP; , ) is a Christian-democratic political party in Aruba founded in 1942. AVP is an acronym for the Dutch name of the party. At the 2001 elections in Aruba, elections, on 28 September 2001, the party won 26.7% of po ...

, he was a member of the

Parliament of Aruba The Parliament of Aruba (, ) is the unicameral legislature or parliament of Aruba. The parliament has 21 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. Each member holds their seats until the parliament is dissolved, which ...

between 2009 and 2013.

Career

Croes 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 7 November 1976. Following his primary education he attended the voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs. He then moved to the Netherlands and studied political science at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, where he obtained a degree in 2002. During his studies he specialized in international politics and international economics. Croes subsequently returned to Aruba and entered state service in the international relations department.

Political career

Croes became politically active for the

and in the 2009 general election he obtained a seat in the

with 1578 votes. after being sworn in he was elected as Deputy Speaker. He served as President of the Estates on 21 June 2010 and October 2013. Croes became the Parliament's youngest Speaker in history. Croes maintained his seat in the 2013 general election.

Minister

Croes joined the second cabinet of Prime Minister

Mike Eman Michiel Godfried "Mike" Eman (born 1 September 1961) is an Aruba, Aruban politician currently serving as the 5th Prime Minister of Aruba. He previously served as the 3rd Prime Minister from 2009 to 2017 His political career began in 2001, but Em ...

as Minister of Social Affairs, Youth and Labor on 30 October 2013. Croes stated he wished to focus on child abuse, domestic violence, poverty and an increase in job productivity.

Legal affairs

In January 2015 a journalist from newspaper ''Solo di Pueblo'' made allegations against Croes regarding corruption. Croes denied the allegations and demanded and received a rectification in the newspaper. Dutch newspaper ''

de Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; ) is the largest Netherlands, Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief since ...

'' also reported on the case in October 2015. The Aruban cabinet subsequently denied the allegations. On 28 March 2017 it became known that Croes was a suspect in a corruption investigation regarding

work permit A work permit or work visa is the permission to take a job within a foreign country. The foreign country where someone seeks to obtain a work permit for is also known as the "country of work", as opposed to the "country of origin" where someone ho ...

s. His house and several others were searched by local authorities, An illegal domestic worker was found at the premises. On 31 March 2017 Croes temporarily laid down his ministerial position. Minister of Finance

Angel Bermudez Angel Roald Bermudez (born 1950 or 1951) is an Aruban politician. He served as Minister of Transport and Communication between 1987 and 1989. From 2011 to 2014, he was director of the Tax and Customs Administration of the Caribbean Netherlands. Be ...

became caretaker for his portfolio. On 21 August 2017 Croes was arrested on suspicion of corruption. Two days after his arrest Prime Minister Eman commented that Croes would keep his position as Minister. He was released on 14 November 2017 awaiting a probable court date in April 2018. His term in office ended when the government of

Evelyn Wever-Croes Evelyna Christina "Evelyn" Wever-Croes (born 5 December 1966) is an Aruban politician and who served as the 4th Prime Minister of Aruba from 2017 to 2025. She is the first woman to have held the position. She is a member of the People's Elector ...

was sworn in on 17 November 2017, he was succeeded by Glenbert Croes.

Conviction

On 22 February 2019 Croes was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. consequentially he was barred from participating in politics and becoming a civil servant for 9 years. Croes announced his intention to appeal the decision.

References

External links

Ministry of Social Affairs, Youth and Labor website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croes, Paul 1976 births Living people Aruban People's Party politicians Government ministers of Aruba Members of the Estates of Aruba Presidents of the Estates of Aruba University of Amsterdam alumni