Mike Eman, Telearuba, July 11, 2014
Member of Parliament Endy Croes took note that Prime Minister Mike Eman has officially announced his retirement as Leader of the AVP for September 2026, and as Prime Minister for January 1, 2027. An announcement that, by all indications, came as a cold shower to his own coalition. As Minister Gerlien Croes herself publicly confirmed, this announcement was not consulted; neither with FUTURO nor with his own Party Council (Partijraad). A Prime Minister announces his departure without a plan, without a successor, and without coordinating with his partners. This is not delivering a legacy; this is an abandonment of responsibility.
The manner of the announcement is only half the story. What worries MP Endy Croes is the contrast with what Mike Eman himself stood for and defended in public.
In July 2014, Mike Eman went on a hunger strike. He camped in front of Fort Zoutman, right in front of the Governor’s Cabinet, because the Kingdom Council of Ministers (Rijksministerraad) issued an instruction to the Governor not to sign Aruba’s budget. Aruba’s debt was rising drastically under his own administration; the 2014 deficit was 443 million florins, and the Netherlands was demanding control. Back then, Mike Eman said NO. He stood firm publicly, and he gave his word to the people of Aruba.
Now, we must also remember how Mike Eman reached that point. Since he assumed office in October 2009, his very first budget for 2010 already carried a large deficit. Year after year, in 2011 and 2012, this deficit kept growing. Both the Advisory Council (Raad van Advies) and the IMF sent strong signals during 2013, indicating that Aruba’s national debt was increasing too fast and drastically.
In March 2013, Mike Eman himself signed the ‘Witte Donderdag Akkoord’ (Protocol 2013), committing Aruba to lowering its debt. Yet, the 2014 budget still presented a deficit of 443 million florins, approved by his own members of parliament in the Staten. This is the exact same situation that later led to the famous hunger strike.
Today, in 2026, this very same Mike Eman is forcing his MPs to vote IN FAVOR of the Kingdom Act HOFA (Rijkswet HOFA). A law that places Aruba under exactly the same type of Dutch financial supervision that he called a “rape” 12 years ago. And meanwhile, he himself is abandoning the ship; without a plan, without a named successor, leaving his coalition to deal with all the consequences.
MP Endy Croes cannot understand Mike Eman’s current attitude toward the Netherlands. In 2014, he used the word ‘rape’ to defend Aruba’s autonomy. In 2026, this same leader is handing over that very autonomy into the hands of the Netherlands and abandoning ship, leaving the country to deal with the Dutch on its own. MP Croes expresses that the political decision to hand over Aruba’s financial autonomy to the Netherlands, via a Kingdom Act that he himself compared to ‘rape’—while simultaneously announcing his departure without a transition plan—is something the people of Aruba must understand and evaluate for themselves.
Mike Eman has done a 180-degree turn. The people of Aruba have only one question to ask: between 2014 and 2026, what exactly changed for Mike Eman? Because for Aruba, when it comes to the need to protect our autonomy, absolutely nothing has changed.
Sources for Mike Eman’s statements:
https://nos.nl/artikel/673801-premier-aruba-in-hongerstaking
https://nos.nl/artikel/2058634-nederland-zat-fout-in-conflict-met-aruba-over-begroting