COMMENTARY: Voters may want a coalition gov’t
By Dickson Igwe, Contributor
The British Virgin Islands General Election is to take place before the end of 2018 or early 2019.
It will be an epic affair. The General Election will be a hard-fought battle.
In politics, the stakes are always high. It will be seen as a national movement of voters marching to the ballot box. And the 2018/2019 General Election is a continuation of two preceding marches.
Now, the first march was a very large protest march. It was a movement against United Kingdom overreach in the public register of beneficial ownership matter.
The second march was tiny. It was a group of vocal activists demanding greater accountability, transparency, and integrity, from their government.
However, there is another much more critical march. It is the THIRD MARCH.
The third march in actuality started long before the two marches of June 2018. It began as with most general election movements at mid-term in the present government’s tenure. The third march to the ballot box is a two year odyssey.
At mid term, a General Election – two years away – begins to generate a gravity all of its own.
It is always at the back of the mind of the politician that his time in power may be limited. Ok. The third march officially began at a political meeting in June 2018: the victory of British Virgin Islands politician, Honorable Myron Walwyn, at the National Democratic Party Conference in June 2018 cast a die.
So, the end of the third march will see one of two men take that greatly desired seat of political power that is the Office of the Premier of the British Virgin Islands: the leaders of the Virgin Islands Party, or National Democratic Party.
A coalition government
There is the very remote possibility of a third option of governance: COALITION GOVERNMENT.
Politician, and Former Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Julian Fraser, is forming a third party. Based on precedence, third parties and independent candidates have not been successful in changing the political narrative from a two party system since the mid 1990s.
There are indications matters may be different in 2018-2019.
Post-Irma, the Virgin Islands voter may want a coalition government, as two party governance has left the country worse off today than it was in the late 1980s and early 90s.
This has been the result of non-transparent, non-accountable, and non-audited governance by both political parties.
The Virgin Islands voter appears to be demanding a new culture of transparent and accountable governance, from the new government, post the next General Election. Time will tell whether that desire gets fulfilled.
To be continued
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5 vip…5 ndp…3 flp
A king maker..that will be interesting.
Every 4 years the same nonsense. Voters will vote for the party that they think can move the territoru forward. Fact!
Voters don’t “vote” for a coalition. Coalitions are assembled after the vote has been counted when no party has an overall majority. Then the politicians scramble around to group themselves into whatever coalition they can to grab power. The ordinary voter will have no say in what coalitions get formed by their elected representatives.
Can we not have an ex pat party so the territory stands a chance of actually achieving something?
The BVI is definitely at a crossroad and urgently needs a new direction, a new course. A strong dose of accountability, transparency and responsibility is needed. A sea change, a tectonic shift in leadership is sorely needed to make this happened.
However, politics is so polarizing that it is doubtful that the electorate can do the right thing. We, the electorate, are about self interest, not the public interest. Political and social patronage rule, despite its degrading impact on the national interest.
Change is definitely needed but it cannot happen just for the sake of change. Political combatants through proposed policies, programmes, commitments, guarantees……etc must outlined their plan of action for change.
Further, the electorate through peaceful actions, the ballot box…..etc must hold politicians accountable. Politicians make tons of promises but under deliver on most, for they know the electorate has short memories. This is an olde practice that goes back centuries, ie 64 BC in Rome……etc; it is not a new practice. There is nothing new under the sun.
Moreover, not averse to a coalition government. They are in use elsewhere, ie, most of the EU countries, including UK. Loopsided party governments in the VI, ie, VIP 11-2 in 2007-2011 and NDP 2015-2019, have underperformed; they behave less accountable.
The only way we can move this country forward is through constitutional reform. Orlando has failed to release the audit. Our elected officials seem to treat this country as their personal piggy bank. My neighbors don’t seem to mind much as long as some pennies trickle down to them. Our elected officials can make stupid investments like the Air Orlando fiasco. Or they can overspend without telling us on projects like the pier. We need reform. We need transparency.
Dickson Igwe I do not know who you are and where you came from but in 19600 Mr. Isaac G. Fonseca, Mr. Carlton de Castro, Mr. Lawrence de Castro, Mr. Howard R. Penn, Mr. Leopold Smith and Mr Theodolph Faulkner, native born Virgin Islanders of the soil started the Legislature of the British Virgin Islands. They were staunch political leaders that stood up for native born Virgin Islanders and they put Virgin Islanders first and they stood up and started the territory of the Virgin Islanders. Their ancestors were brought to the Virgin Islanders by European traders and they were the first non-Europeans since the Arawaks and Caribs that demanded that they have a territory for the people of the Virgin Islands. Now here it is 2018 my ancestors have all died and passed away and now everyone else wants to come from everywhere else only God knows and wants to be political leaders of the Virgin Islands and they have no clue how hard the native born Virgin Islanders had it to form their own territory with their own government and to put their people and territory first and to stand up for what is right all native born Virgin Islanders, that is what you people need to look at. My ancestors fought long and hard for what they believe was the right thing to do and now here I am fifty years later and everything that my ancestors worked so hard for is being taken away.