Commentator dismisses gov’t instability talk
Commentator Claude Skelton Cline has dismissed claims that recent political realignments signal instability within the government, arguing that such narratives are unfounded and misleading.
Speaking on his radio programme, Honestly Speaking, Skelton Cline rejected suggestions that the government’s stability had been weakened following the decision of Territorial At-Large Representative Stacy Mather to join the administration. He said the claim of instability did not withstand scrutiny when placed in the proper context.
“Somebody said that this doesn’t look good in the eyes of the UK. It shows instability. Where do you get that from? Why are you telling yourself that story?” he stated.
Skelton Cline pointed out that the core structure of the government remained unchanged, noting that Cabinet members were still in place and that the only development was the addition of another legislator to the government’s ranks. “There’s nothing unstable about what happened. The Cabinet members are still in place. All that’s happened to the government is adding someone else to the government,” he said.
Are we here to please the UK?
He further challenged comparisons being drawn between the BVI and the expectations of external observers, particularly those from the United Kingdom. “You think that we are here to please the UK? There’s nothing unstable about what happened,” Skelton Cline remarked.
According to Skelton Cline, the real issue confronting the administration was not numerical strength in the House of Assembly but the pace of delivery and tangible outcomes for residents. “They need to get some things done. Because if they don’t, they need to be voted out,” he said.
Not unique
Skelton Cline also emphasised that political movements and shifting alliances were not unique to the Virgin Islands and should not be automatically equated with governmental weakness. Drawing a comparison, he referenced the frequency of leadership changes in the UK itself as evidence that such developments do not inherently translate into instability.
The commentator described himself as politically independent and said his analysis was not driven by allegiance to any party. “I’m independent. I have relationships with all these people. They all may not like me, but I like all of them,” he stated.
He warned, however, that public frustration would grow if the government failed to translate its parliamentary position into visible progress. Stability, he argued, would ultimately be judged by performance rather than political arithmetic.
“There is nothing unstable about the government of the Virgin Islands,” he said, adding that the focus should remain on delivery and accountability rather than political alarmism.
Copyright 2026 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Radio gossip.
This man has the moral capacity to dismiss something, he should dismiss his fraud against the BVI people and return all that money he collected falsely, and now still getting paid secretly from the prime minister office to push natalio agenda, or for that matter the entitlement elites.
All CSC is interested in is seeing his uncle Ronnie as Premier. The whole clan ( the bishop, CSC and the other old guards) are destroying the chances of the other potential leaders to prop up Ronnie. They are power hungry and want to be in charge at any cost. The NDP is in disarray because they want to throw out Marlon and out Ronnie. Ronnie pretends like he is not power hungry while pushing the minions around him to do his dirty work.
You are looking confusion or looking news? Our leaders good over here.
Observation 24: Diagnosis MDS
The musical chairs games that we have seen recently are unprecedented in their frequency and the justifications for them are predictable. “I switched/joined/left to be able to better contribute to my country”. Well if that’s the case then why have an Opposition? Let’s have a 13 Member coalition Government then. Or is it that Governments punish Opposition constituents and if so what does that say of our governance?
If you remember the 2015 or the 2019 elections then you know we need an Opposition. Did we forget how effective Mr. Fahie was as LOO and how he held the NDP’s feet to the fire and called for COI’s to investigate ‘anomalies’ in governance? Are we not seeing Mr. Walwyn’s performances in the HOA questioning Government decisions? Do we ignore Mr. Fraser’s brilliant pragmatism when he formed a one person Opposition when the Unity Government was formed?
But now let’s get to the elephant in the room. We have mentioned MDS (Myron Derangement Syndrome) a couple times in the past but we will take a closer look here.
BOLD STATEMENT: Myron Walwyn is the most consequential politician in the BVI today. He is at the centre of the political universe and many of the decisions (and indecision) are made with a Myron calculation. The reason the VIP has been able to form the last two Governments is because Myron is ‘a island man’ (forgive the phrase, its used for emphasis) and yes that is gross simplification but the PVIM is not formed if Mr. Skelton had won the leadership contest back in June 2018. Further, the VIP formed the Government in 2023 while garnering only 40% of the At- Large Vote and winning only 1 At-Large Seat. This is a testament to Party Leadership but also to Opposition infighting in the early morning hours post-election.
Resistance to Walwyn is due to other factors, of course, but the fact that he is not ‘ancestral’ is central to many attitudes towards him. Instead of capitalising and harnessing his popularity and his political prowess, remnants of the opposition’s ‘old guard’ try to marginalise him. That has not and will not work. If the Opposition is to unite and offer a real alternative to another Government in the long line of Governments unable to provide water, smooth roads and transparency, then they must overcome their MDS and embrace this political force.
The way forward is to ease out the ‘old guard’ who are seen as the connected elite and to reform comprehensively. Whether it’s the NDP or the Alliance or any of the rumoured incoming entities, the people must be involved in this reform. Elections for Party President and Chairman must be held in a transparent and fair manner. A new apparatus that rejects the leeching crony class must take over. We suggest a few names (some appear in different categories) that have, at times, shown independence, integrity, expertise and an anchor.
Some of them we have proposed before (see Observation 4) and while this exercise is about alternatives there are elected officials on the Government side that have done a good job and are worthy of re-election.
1st Dylan Penn, Sylvia Romney-Moses
2nd Mitch
3rd Parillon, Raymond Fonseca
4th Rhodni Skelton, Eugenia O’Neal
5th Troy Christopher
6th Myron
7th Perline Scatliffe-Leonard, Brodrick Penn
8th Marlon
9th Coy Levons, Dawn Flax
At-Large
Kevin Fahie, Sherry O’Neal, Lesmore Smith, Ronnie Skelton, Dr. Mike, Shereen Flax-Charles, Kamika Forbes, Michael O’Neal
Party Leadership/President
Dancia Penn-Sallah, Shereen Flax-Charles, Michael O’Neal, Kimberly Crabbe-Adams
P.S. While we critique the Government (of the day) often (earlier iterations of ‘Notes’ were critical of NDP led governments ), we recognise that it has contributed positively to the Virgin Islands in many respects and we’ll take a closer look at its accomplishments in an upcoming post.
P.P.S. We lost a kind, lovely soul and we join the BVI in mourning. RIP All-Out.
lol Hi fu**y man
@ 100% :
Very long post with nothing much in way of substance. The names you floated are not people personalities and neither would they make good leaders. You said a lot; but I see what you did there Mr/Miss NDP recycler! That the FLOP Party you just named out there!!! Might as well you had lost out Picko, Kishma, Cindy, Heritage, Paul on da Ball and oh – CSC!
Not that FLOP Party which is made up of empty kerosene pans….that was a good laugh reading your post. Happy 2026 to yah!
I thought I was the only one that saw that slate of Candidates as lacking.
With the greatest of respect 90% of your choices cannot even get on the starting line much less to get off the mark and make the grade. Keep looking.
Shameless idiot it’s a new year you need to try pleasing the most high
Wigo Boi , those who look for faults ,will always find them / and ehen your mind is always in the gutter you will always like the gutter , you bllwtoying & blogging on your yello site with arrogance of trump , and you are doing the same thing on this site with your bloggings using different names but they are all the same and written by you , your mind is dirty ( new year same dh* t ) repent heathen, before ” karma ” catches up with you •¿• ■
I want to place this right here for those who can see and understand, the real politics is about start,
the man above is making the shift, the NDP is having everything to loose if they do not check their egos,
Mather gone, Frazier gone, Lorna gone, who left,
Mitch, Myron, Marlon, and Ronnie Skelton, what do these four men have in common, they were all original members of the NDP, so one would say that they are each right back where they started. the only thing happened in almost eight years is Myron turn over the leadership over the party to Marlon who in the same amount of time has not build but has completely destroyed a viable and vibrant party with an existing structure in place, I would call that a failure, there is hope if these four person can sit down and truly work out their differences , they would be the next BVI government. Contradict me if you want.
Why don’t they go to the public and conduct a poll and let the people suggest who they would want to be the leader of the NDP…. you will be surprised to know who the people want to lead these islands
Just look at this guys Detroit history