Registering his objection to the implementation of Recommendation A1 of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) Report on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition Honourable Julian Fraser told the House of Assembly (HOA) that he found the document to be laced in contradictions.
Recommendation A1 calls for the dissolution of the House of Assembly, the cessation of ministerial government and necessary consequential suspension of the provisions of the Constitution for an initial period of two years, all while the territory is placed under the direct rule of the governor.
Fraser described the recommendation as tone deaf.
He told the HOA that such a recommendation completely disregarded the BVI’s centuries of fighting for self-governance, and described the mere suggestion that such should take place as “Disenfranchised, unnecessary and undemocratic.”
He said, “It appears that the commissioner in researching his conclusion disregarded the historical march of the people of the Virgin Islands through time, as they advanced from the bellies of ships through slavery and to self-government over centuries.”
In addition to this, Fraser argued that the commissioner did not demonstrate an adequate rise in his findings to meet the threshold for his conclusions in Recommendation A1.
If it was the last resort, why was it first?
Item 23 of the Executive Summary of the COI report speaks to Recommendation A1 in the commissioner’s own words and states, “I have carefully considered lesser measures but, whilst I appreciate that the Governor and the UK Government will consider this only as a last resort – as do I – I have concluded that the only way in which the relevant issues can be addressed is for there to be a temporary suspension of those parts of the Constitution by which areas of government are assigned to elected representatives.”
Fraser said that the commissioner’s own references to the measure as a “last resort” begs the question of why it would be the very first recommendation made in the document.
Fraser warned that despite claims in the documents that the recommendations made were tailored to the “needs and aspirations of the people of the BVI”, there is clearly a disconnect when these recommendations are being written by someone sitting thousands of miles away, who had never been immersed in this society.
He said, “As I look at the motion that was read I see where it says the Virgin Islands is home to a people with a modern constitution, 2007, that has in its preamble stated that the people of the Virgin Islands have generally expressed their desire to become a self-governing country. I ask myself if any of that was considered when the conclusions of this report were made.”
Fraser urged his fellow members of the House to do justice to the people of the Virgin Islands and express their honest views on various areas which have been subject to public contention, as well as enlightening the public on areas of the recommendations which may have gone over their heads.
He stressed that in respect of the democracy of the BVI, the people must be mindful of what exactly was agreed upon and how this is going to affect them.