Xiomara Maduro: Parliament cannot authorize government to bypass LNT

ORANJESTAD — Member of Parliament Xiomara Maduro has criticized Finance Minister Geoffrey Wever’s intention to limit the application of the Top Income Standardization Act (LNT) to certain companies and entities through a preferential policy, without amending the law itself.

According to Maduro, Minister Wever is asking Parliament to provide political direction and approval for a measure that current legislation does not permit. She argues that if the Government wants to exclude certain entities from the LNT, it must submit a formal legislative amendment accompanied by the necessary legal and financial advice.

Maduro said it remains unclear which entities the Government wants to exclude, which ones would remain subject to the LNT, why they would be treated differently and how the changes would be implemented legally.

According to the parliamentarian, the Government must first present a solution that complies with the law and only then request Parliament’s political opinion. Parliament’s role is to scrutinize the Government, not to give it a “blank cheque” to bypass existing legislation, Maduro emphasized.