WILLEMSTAD - Minister of Finance Javier Silvania has to defend himself in court on Thursday against the charge of defamation and slander. The accusation comes from Vanessa Gijsbertha, former chief of staff at the Ministry of Finance and daughter of Silvania's immediate predecessor.
Silvania is not pleased with the functioning of the ICT system at the Tax Authorities. Through the media, but also his own Facebook page, he has suggested several times that Vanessa Gijsbertha would have played a dubious role in outsourcing the assignment to her former employer Bearing Point. She has gone to court for this.
The finance minister is more likely to cause a stir with his undiplomatic statements and media appearances. Once Minister Silvania caused quite a stir with his media declarations against former State Secretary Raymond Knops. It was so serious that even Prime Minister Pisas had to step in to repair the relationship with the government in The Hague.