WILLEMSTAD - The MAN faction in parliament finds it unacceptable that a meeting is planned regarding the investigation by the accounting firm SOAB into the receiver, while Minister of Finance, Javier Silvania, has been refusing to come to parliament and answer questions for almost a year about his decision to grant three billion guilders in tax exemptions.
The faction expressed this stance in a letter to the president of parliament, Charetti America-Francisca (MFK), dated March 28. On March 25, Silvania sent a copy of the SOAB report to parliament, along with a request to organize a Central Committee meeting to further inform parliament on the subject.
The MAN faction points out that it is not acceptable to schedule a new meeting while Silvania, despite multiple reminders, refuses to come to parliament to answer questions about a previously suspended meeting on a similar subject. In their letter, they make two requests to the President of Parliament.
The first request is to put the continuation of the meeting of May 11, 2023, on the agenda, so that Silvania can answer questions from parliament about his decision to grant more than three billion guilders in tax exemptions. The second request is to have the Receiver, Alfonso Trona, and the Chief Tax Inspector, Jamila Isenia, present during the meeting that Silvania has requested regarding the SOAB report, so that they can provide information from their perspective and answer questions from parliamentarians.
"What is happening here is a total undermining of our confidence in the tax institutions, which form the backbone of the government. There has been a long-standing dispute between Minister Silvania and the tax authorities' executives. The MAN faction demands clarity and wants the executives to be present to directly ask questions and receive information," the letter states.
The MAN faction emphasizes, "As president of parliament, it is your duty to ensure the optimal functioning of parliament as the democratic representative body of the people. It cannot be that the Minister of Finance, up to this day, leaves questions unanswered, asked during the meeting of May 11, 2023, on such an important tax matter, and requests another meeting on the tax subject."
