Hensley Felix Koeiman (born 21 May 1956) is a Curaçaoan politician who served as the 6th

Prime Minister of Curaçao The Prime Minister of Curaçao is the head of government of Curaçao. The post was created after the Netherlands Antilles had been dissolved on 10 October 2010 and Curaçao became a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Prime Minister ...

between 23 December 2016 and 24 March 2017. A member of the

Partido MAN Partido MAN is a political party in Curaçao founded in 1971, which has two of the 21 seats of the Estates of Curaçao after the Curaçao general election of 2021. In the elections preceding the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles the party g ...

, he was Minister of Social Affairs, Employment and Welfare in the

Gerrit Schotte Gerrit Fransisco Schotte () (born 9 September 1974) is a Curaçaoan politician, and the current leader of the Movementu Futuro Kòrsou (MFK). In the Curaçao general election of 27 August 2010, the MFK became the second-largest party with 5 sea ...

cabinet (October 2010 – September 2012). Afterwards Koeiman served in the

Parliament of Curaçao The Parliament of Curaçao ( pap, Parlamento di Kòrsou, nl, Staten van Curaçao) consist of 21 members, each elected for a four-year term in a general election. Curaçao president of parliament is Charetti America-Francisca. The first Parliament ...

from the 2012 general election until his appointment as Prime Minister. Since 29 May 2017 he has been Minister of Social Affairs, Employment and Welfare in the

Eugene Rhuggenaath From the 29th of May 2017 until the 14th of June 2021, Eugene Rhuggenaath (born 4 February 1970) was the Curaçaoan 7tPrime ministerbefore Gilmar Pisas won the 2021 elections. He previously served as Minister for Economic Development in the Koei ...

cabinet.

Career

Koeiman was born in Wacawa, Banda Bou, Curaçao, on 21 May 1956. He went to the Netherlands to study

architectural engineering Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health. Archi ...

at the in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

. Koeiman worked as a teacher of architectural engineering at a . He was also head of the country building service of the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

as well as head of the facilitary services of the

Bank of the Netherlands Antilles A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

. From 2007 until the

dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010. After dissolution, the "BES islands" of the Dutch Caribbean— Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba—becam ...

on 10 October 2010, Koeiman was member of the island council of Curaçao. He was number five of the candidate list for the 2010 Curaçao general election. On 1 June 2013 Koeiman was elected Partido MAN party leader and succeeded Charles Cooper. Koeiman was ''

lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

'' for the Partido MAN for the 2016 Curaçao general election. His party won the most votes, resulting in four seats in the Estates. Koeiman stated he was ready to take a role in government. On 14 December a

coalition agreement A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

was signed between the Partido MAN, the

Party for the Restructured Antilles The Real Alternative Party ( nl, Echte Alternatieve Partij; pap, Partido Alternativa Real, PAR), formerly the Party for the Restructured Antilles ( nl, Partij voor Geherstructureerde Antillen, pap, Partido Antiá Restrukturá) until 2016, is a p ...

(PAR), National People's Party (PNP) and

Sovereign People Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...

(PS). Kenneth Gijsbertha of the Partido Man had been

formateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur ...

. Koeiman was designated as

. A new cabinet could not be immediately installed pending screening of the ministers.

Prime Minister

Koeiman's cabinet was sworn in by

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

George-Wout on 23 December 2016. Seven members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

joined the cabinet. Source: On 12 February 2017 the Koeiman cabinet fell after

withdrew its support in Parliament. The Sovereign People parliamentarians in their letter of withdrawal of support also announced to support a government led by the

Movement for the Future of Curaçao The Movement for the Future of Curaçao ( nl, Beweging voor de Toekomst van Curaçao, pap, Movementu Futuro Kòrsou, MFK) is a political party in Curaçao, founded by Gerrit Schotte in 2010, which has 9 of the 21 seats in the Estates of Curaçao ...

. Koeiman stated that there had been pressure on his government coalition from the start. His cabinet continued as a

demissionary cabinet A demissionary cabinet ( nl, demissionair kabinet) is a type of caretaker cabinet in the Netherlands. A demissionary cabinet continues the current government after a cabinet has ended. This can either be after completion of the full term, betw ...

. Koeiman announced he wished to hold new elections on 28 April 2017. On 24 March 2017 Koeiman was succeeded as Prime Minister by

Gilmar Pisas Gilmar Simon Pisas (born 28 February 1971) is a Curaçaoan politician and current 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 Parlia ...

Political career

On 29 May 2017 he joined the cabinet of

as Minister of Social Affairs, Employment and Welfare. On 13 June 2019 he announced he was willing to vacate the position of leader of the Partido MAN. On 12 August 2019 the party granted his request and started a search for a new leader. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Curaçao The COVID-19 pandemic in Curaçao is part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was documented for the first time in Curaçao on 13 March 2020. The case was a 68-year-old man who was on vacation fro ...

following the introduction of a lockdown, Koeiman stated that nobody would be allowed to be on the streets, with the exception of vital-care workers. This was the first time in the history of Curaçao.

Personal life

Koeiman is divorced. He has six children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koeiman, Hensley 1956 births Living people Prime Ministers of Curaçao Government ministers of Curaçao Social affairs ministers of Curaçao Members of the Estates of Curaçao Partido MAN politicians