Former Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering has broken his silence on whether former Premier Andrew Fahie can be forcibly ousted as the First District Representative, stating that there was never going to be a by-election within District One as the member cannot be removed under the current circumstances.
Dr. Pickering touched on the subject during a public meeting on Virgin Gorda last night, as part of his campaigning ahead of the next General Election which he intends to contest as a Territorial At Large Representative.
He called out the Government of National Unity for what he described to be false claims after it was announced that Fahie could be removed from the House of Assembly after missing at least three consecutive Sittings without the approval of the Speaker of the House.
“There was never going to be a by-election. There could never have been a by-election. Let me explain to you why. For those of you who are purists, who want to understand there could never have been an election, there could only have been an election if the representative, the elected representative for the district, resigns. If he doesn’t resign, they can’t remove him, don’t mind what you hear. There’s no legal mechanism for recall in this country,” Dr. Pickering stated.
The former 7th District Representative also pointed to the BVI’s Constitution, which he said states that other than by resigning, an elected official can only be removed by death or if becoming incapacitated.
He said, “The only people who could remove an elected representative are the people who voted that representative in. Nobody else can remove a person who is elected, the Constitution clearly states how a person can be removed from office – by death or if that person becomes incapacitated. There’s no other mechanism in this country. All that talk that you heard that they were going to have meetings in the House of Assembly and they are going to have three consecutive meetings and then Fahie will be voted out. It was never going to be possible. All of a sudden, they suddenly realize it was just a lot of talk.”
Speaker has no authority to remove an elected member
Dr. Pickering also sought to explain the purpose of the House of Assembly’s Standing Orders and the role of the Speaker.
He said the Speaker’s decision to not accept any future notices of exemption from House of Assembly Sittings from Fahie does hold any weight, adding that the former premier already did what he was required to under the law.
“The Standing Orders of the House of Assembly are rules and regulations that have been established by members of the House for themselves. The Standing Orders are put there in place to ensure that the members of the House conduct their business. So there are members of Government, they are members of the Opposition and you agree in principle that we are going to play by these rules. Just like any sport, they are referees. The Speaker of the House is a referee. The Speaker of the House only has one responsibility, to look after members’ interests. The Speaker of the House can’t put out a member. The members can put out the Speaker because the members put the Speaker there. So there was never going to be any way they could remove Fahie because he did what he had to do informing the Speaker that he was going to miss the House sitting and the Speaker can’t determine whether she accept or whether he accept what the reason is. The rules clearly just simply say that you have to inform the Speaker at the appointed time that you’re not going to be attending the meeting,” he explained.
Dr. Pickering called on residents to place all their focus on the upcoming General Election stating that it is going to be one of the most important in the history of the BVI.
Just last Friday, Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley announced that it was highly unlikely that there will be a by-election in the First District for Fahie’s seat, which he said will be vacated at the end of the next Sitting of the House of Assembly.