Running for president… of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) Part II: Jeroen Kremers withdraws from the race

On April 28th I wrote about the race for becoming the next president of Dutch national bank De Nederlandsche Bank.


Unfortunately, CDA-candidate Jeroen Kremers decided to withdraw from this race (link in Dutch), according to the Financieel Dagblad (www.fd.nl). Here are the pertinent snips:

Former senior official Jeroen Kremers is no longer in the race for the presidency of the DNB. 

Kremers, who is currently working for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), was supposed to be one of three candidates for the succession of Nout Wellink, whose 2nd stint as president of the central bank ends in july 2011. Kremers didn't want to give any disclosure on his motivation to step out of the race.

For me, it is a shame that Jeroen Kremers stepped out of the race, as he seemed to be a very capable candidate with the right kind of experience. 


Now there is a choice between a political tiger without relevant monetary experience - VVD-candidate Kees van Dijkhuizen - and the preferred candidate of DNB, Lex Hoogduin. 


It is the question, if DNB will be in good hands with a candidate that is chosen by Nout Wellink, who has failed so clearly on his mission as president of DNB. 


Of course both candidates deserve the benefit of the doubt, but both candidates make me not particularly happy.