Constitutional review happening “at our weakest”

As the Virgin Islands prepares to enter crucial constitutional negotiations with the United Kingdom, Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn has warned that the territory is heading into the process “at our weakest” point.

Walwyn, speaking during a recent House of Assembly sitting, expressed concern that the constitutional review is happening so soon after the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report, which he said has psychologically impacted the people of the Virgin Islands and eroded trust in political leadership.

“We are going in to review a constitution at a time when we are at our weakest,” Walwyn said. “I cannot forsake my good common sense to wonder whether or not that was a deliberate tactic, because how do you go into negotiations to ask for additional powers when you have a document that you have accepted that basically says you have maladministration and you have corruption?”

The Opposition Leader questioned why the reform agenda recommended by the COI was conflated with constitutional reform, arguing that the timing is “very curious” and may put the territory at a disadvantage as it negotiates with the UK for greater self-governance.

“Anybody who is paying attention to what is happening in the politics of the BVI … must wonder why those two things are happening so contemporaneously,” Walwyn said. “There is something amiss in there.”

He also reflected on the wider impact of the COI report, noting that it has deepened public mistrust in local leaders — some of whom, he admitted, had self-inflicted it through years of divisive political debate.

“When we get to the point where we call one another corrupt just to get political points, those things are coming home to roost,” Walwyn told the House. “Then you get the COI saying the things that it says, and it puts doubt in the minds of the people as to whether they can trust their leadership or not. And at that time, when the trust of leaders is under heightened suspicion, we are now asking for constitutional review.”

Walwyn stressed that while he does not oppose constitutional reform, he felt it important to highlight the challenges the territory faces going into the process under these conditions.

The constitutional review process — a key step toward greater autonomy — comes as the government continues to implement wide-ranging reforms recommended by the COI. Negotiations with the UK are expected to shape the future relationship between the territory and the United Kingdom for years to come.