Senior Opposition Legislator Julian Fraser has expressed confidence in his belief that Premier Andrew Fahie will be calling a snap election in the British Virgin Islands.
The Member for the Third Electoral District made the statement during a recent press conference, where he said that he believes the premier will make that decision before the end of August 2022.
“All the Member said is this is the last year of this Virgin Islands Party government. You can look at the Constitution. The last election was February 25th 2019, four years down the road and everybody is going to start campaigning before that time comes,” he stated.
He added, “And if this premier has his way, I can see based on the things that he is doing, he’s going to call a snap election and it’s going to be before August. Open your eyes and watch what’s going on.”
On the subject of elections, a question was posed on whether Fraser and Second District Representative Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull would join forces as one political party and support the Opposition Leader Marlon Penn as the next premier in the upcoming general elections.
Turnbull responded by stating that the three members presently stand united as the Opposition, but said time will tell whether any further decisions are made which he said is dependent upon the calling of elections.
What the Constitution says?
According to the Virgin Islands Constitution, the Governor shall dissolve the House of Assembly at the expiration of four years from the date when the House first meets after any general election, unless it has been dissolved sooner.
After the House is dissolved, a general election can be held between 21 days and 2 months from the dissolution date.
This ultimately means that unless Premier Andrew Fahie calls the general election before the end of his four years in office, March 12, 2023 will be the last possible date to dissolve the House of Assembly.
This will give a period of between 21 days and 2 months to pick an election date, meaning elections can be called as late as May 2023 if it goes down to the final days.
3 political parties
Presently, Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition comprises four members from three political parties.
They are the National Democratic Party which consists of the Opposition Leader Penn and Member for the Fourth District Mark Vanterpool; Progressive United with Fraser; and Progressive Virgin Islands Movement with Turnbull.