Territorial at Large Representative Honourable Carvin Malone believes that Virgin Islanders should be wary of the visit of Overseas Territories Minister the Rt. Hon Lord Zac Goldsmith to the BVI this week.
Specifically, Malone urged Virgin Islanders not to lose sight of the root of this visit.
He spoke during a recent guest appearance on Tola Radio.
“The member of parliament from the UK… He’s the Minister for Overseas Territories, he will be coming to the Virgin Islands to discuss the progress of the recommendations that were placed last year. We have to be mindful… I want to get to the root of this because we’re going to have some straight talk this morning… There’s no time for bunting. We have to go for the home run”, he said.
Malone went on to remind of what he called “the backdrop of which we are faced with whether or not we want to face it or not”.
“It can all come to nought at the end of this trip, or it can come to nought two weeks after elections. This is not good. This is not what genuine partnership is about”, he stressed.
He noted that one of the reasons the OT Minister must be here is what Premier Dr the Honourable Natalio Wheatley stated as discussions about the Order in Council that was laid before parliament in June 2022.
He went on to explore the explanatory notes of that document.
“It says that this order suspends certain provisions of the constitution of the Virgin Islands. In particular, those relating to Ministerial Government and the House of Assembly. It vacates certain offices including that of the Premier, and it dissolves the House of Assembly. It makes temporary provision for the Government of the Virgin Islands by the Governor who shall consult, except in prescribed circumstances, an advisory council and may establish a consultative forum. The order is to explore 2 years after commencement unless it is continued in force or is sooner resolved by a further order in council”, he stated.
“This order, as you know, has been given to the Governor. He has it on his dressing table, and it may be enforced at any time. We want to make sure that we can get this off. It should not be enforced or enforceable while we are conducting a constitutional review and it should not be in place while we are looking in terms of having an election”, Malone added.
This, Malone noted as an inhibitor of the election process, and a key factor of the uncanny absence of election activity at this time.
“The reason why you are not seeing more activities. The reason why people are asking me 2 or 3 times a day whether or not we are having an election is because of this particular order. So, we must be mindful of it”, he said.