The political scene is focused on the imminent general election, to be held on September 30th. The election will be the first since the collapse of the Ivar Asjes administration (2013-15) in August 2015 and its replacement by a caretaker government led by Bernard Whiteman of the Pueblo Soberano (PS). The current coalition government holds 12 of the 21 seats in the Staten (the legislature), putting it in a stronger position than the Asjes administration, which had only a one-seat majority. The political establishment has been rocked by major corruption allegations over the last year, most recently involving the president of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS, the Curaçao and Sint Maarten joint Central Bank), Emsley Tromp. Earlier in the year, former prime minister Gerrit Schotte of the opposition Movementu Futuro Kòrsou (MFK) was convicted on bribery charges and sentenced to three years in jail and a five-year ban from public office. An appeal is ongoing and Mr Schotte has continued to present himself as a candidate for the forthcoming election; a recent opinion poll put his support as high as 27%. However, The Economist Intelligence Unit expects the PS to retain control of the legislature.

The new government will require a strong mandate to avoid a continuation of the political volatility that has affected the island in recent years. It will also have to address weak growth and implement unpopular policies, such as changes to public pension entitlements and to the education and healthcare systems, along with tax reform; these could easily be derailed by special interest groups. The business environment will continue to be hampered by political and policy uncertainty, with further corruption scandals also possible.