New cross-party National Unity Gov’t being proposed to Governor
While announcing plans to establish a cross-partisan government, Acting Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has indicated that Vincent Wheatley and Carvin Malone will be removed as Minister of Natural Resources, Labour & Immigration and Minister of Health & Social Development, respectively, after these proposed changes are brought to Governor John Rankin for approval.
Dr Wheatley said he will bring the proposal of a National Unity Government to the governor which will see the governing Virgin Islands Party working together as one government with the opposing National Democratic Party as well as the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement.
The new National Unity Government is expected to be led by the Acting Premier and expected to last for the next 10 to 12 months. This timeline is notable considering that the next general election is constitutionally due in February 2023.
“Each party would be represented in Cabinet as it would give each party equal representation as a government work closely with the governor and United Kingdom on reform which should go well beyond the COI recommendations,” Dr Wheatley said.
The Acting Premier said the proposal will see Opposition Leader Marlon Penn taking over the Ministry of Health & Social Development from Malone, while Second District Representative Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull (also an Opposition legislator) will assume control of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration from Wheatley.
Government legislator Sharie de Castro is proposed to become the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports while Kye Rymer is expected to remain as the Minister of Transportation, Works, and Utilities.
Dr Wheatley will continue to act as Premier and Minister of Finance.
Sixth District Representative Alvera-Maduro Caines is expected to become Junior Minister for Tourism, while Shereen Flax-Charles is expected to remain as Junior Minister for Trade and Economic Development with the additional responsibility of Agriculture and Fisheries – which will also be a part of the Premier’s Office.
Deputy Speaker of the House Neville ‘Sheep’ Smith, according to Dr Wheatley, will remain and will continue to conduct the duties of the Speaker of the House of Assembly until a new Speaker is confirmed.
“Vincent Wheatley will remain as Ninth District Representative and will continue to represent the people of Virgin Gorda and Anegada. The Honourable Carvin Malone, the Territorial At-Large Representative will ensure people of the First District, in particular, who do not have representation on the ground have a voice. I must also add Mark Vanterpool continues to be the member of the Fourth District and a strong member of the National Unity Government,” Dr Wheatley announced.
“We thank all persons for their sacrifice and willingness to work in a cross-partisan way. We are stronger working together in this way and I hope Governor Rankin will accept and make the appointments required once the necessary constitutional steps have been taken to initiate the process. I will update the public by the end of the week on his response and timeline,” the Acting Premier added.
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This actually saddens me. Sorry but several of the proposed Unity Government cannot be trusted……..
Trust NONE!!!!
They allowed so many corrupt Bills, Contracts, and Board Appointments to be passed despite protests and concerns from the public.
Talk is CHEAP!!
Who is to say these same set are not under investigation????!????
Where they full speed going?
According to the COI this line up looks like a Crime Syndicate. Which one of them signed the letter to the Miami court demanding that Fahie be released under diplomatic immunity?
For some reason, this seems weird and wrong. What a mixing pot this is lol…
Listen to the farewell message from Milling the UK minister
She says she met with politicians and church leaders. In other words the rat pack.
No mention of businessmen, tourist operators, workers, the slaves [ aka ex pat down islanders ] or ordinary citizens. Clearly we don’t count.
Thing to talk
We would benefit from this lot being UNEMPLOYED
When honorable persons acknowledges wrong-doing, they voluntarily offer their resignations in the next sentence. I hope the UK will not fall for this.
They all need to go, they all voted yes to the greedy bill, let’s start fresh with new systems, policies and procedures. We need structure, we need the honest of us to come forward. Let’s get some fresh perspective.
Thank you. And the one from the 6th has been a waste of time
Exactly!!
The one from 6th is not ready for politics and too petty.
She would bring tourism to shame as Jr. Minister must less as any Minister.
What her protest sign said before their meeting with Hon. Millings the SAME DAY…fix your problems before trying to fix ours.
That’s SIMPLEMINDED talk.
SHE MADE IT CLEAR SHE DOES NOT WANT THEIR ASSISTANCE.
Where is the petition to vote no confidence and demand elections
I AGREE ALL PERMANENT SECRETARIES AND THE RDA NEED GOING.THE UK NEED TO TAKE OVER THOSE POSITOINS THE ADR WERE THE SP AFTER THE HURRICANE HE AND HIS BOSS LEFT OUT THE LESS FORUNATE I AM STILL BEGGING FOR HELP TO GET MY LITTLE HOUSE FIX THERE IS TOO MUCH OF COMFLICT GOING ON THEY PUT A RAT TO WATCH THE CORN.THE UK NEED TO CLEAN EVERYONE OUT IT TOO MUCH CROCKED THINGS GOING ON IN THIS SMALL PLACE WE NEED ACLEAN SLATE GET RID OF ALL.
No Thank you. Elections please!!
Why not take the step to separate premier and minister of finance??
They don’t want separation. This way the Dictator has control of the money. Can’t steal it if you don’t control it. This is exactly why they all need to go.
Governor Rankin please don’t listen to a word of this airbag. If they can fix things then why didn’t it happen 10 years ago or 5 or 2 or 3 weeks ago. They are trying to save themselves not the Territory. People don’t be fooled by these wolves in sheep clothing. They all need to be locked up just like Foy. Our young educated need a chance to change the Territory and that will only happen if these useless are gone. If they had proposed this Unity Government with the Auditor General as Premier it would have some bite. This useless twit is continuing the same.
The esteemed was a p*g in sheep’s clothing.
There will be wider protests if this goes through than what we saw on Monday. UK, please note that the people want a fresh start.
Really and you think the UK will fall for this. Oh sure, what a brilliant idea. All eyes eyes were closed and mouths were silent when all the corruption was taking place. Now you want to propose unity to the Governor. You had your chance, for all of you opposing the UK takeover too bad because it will happen. You honestly believe that the UK will let the current government officials continue after all that was found out which has been happening for years and years. If this is not done the corruption will never end and the UK knows this.
Should only be in place until the next election date by February 2023 or so. Three-party coalition should be doable.
If at all let them shadow for 3months and call elections for August
no word on Fraser…..hmmm
Same players. Different roles. Business as usual after the game of musical chairs is completed and the dust settles. UK takeover is inevitable and may be the best move forward. Only a matter of time.
I cry for my beloved BVI. Conflict of interest with top heavy sibling leadership; certain representative not looking out for constituents for years, yet actively involved with ‘helping the process and making sure that the united government works’. Please!
Our Territory is stiff dead – as a result of hunger for money and power, and asphyxia caused by overwhelming greed. Admit it, people – no constructive change is forthcoming.
And please – stop talking nonsense about the ‘educated’, like those among us who don’t have college degrees are idiots. The disgraced one among us has all that and more – yet not a grain of common sense.
May heaven see for us all.
yep…deckchairs….Titanic….Pitifull…and no apology anywhere to be seen!
Ridiculous…. Need a clean house to start with.
We want none of you. Step aside let the UK take over and fix this s**tty system and maybe then some other will get it back. Not this bunch.
Will never work….
The people did not vote for this.
This is not the wish of the people. The people of this territory want to turn the page of this ugly chapter in our history where the current and last sitting Government brought on us an onslaught of shame and disgrace because of their dishonesty and greed.
If the British are going to change the system how will they do it when the people they are investigating are watching firsthand their every move.
Natalio is ineffective and so is his cabinet but most of all they have not proven that they are trustworthy even when they are powerless. All of them have question marks on them some of them look at their district they are dying.
The youths are in a disarray and people continue to be at the brutal mercy of the Banks and insurance companies who it is rumored that they are lying in bed with. VIP and NDP must go.
All this to please the WHITE MASTER!
This is ridiculous! They ALL need to go home ! They are the problem! WTH. Let the people pick who they want to lead going forward
The same people blogging over and over against this because they want the old guard or the UK. They are scared of the youth being in charge because it means their time and influence is up!!! Give our young local elected officials the chance to lead with UK support, they have earned the right to that chance.
They are still so corrupt that this entire plan was circulated on social media before officially they announced it. That’s even more signs of poor governance. They didn’t even bother to keep their goals a secret. Now we know that this document is indeed factual, we await the stated outcome for Mr. Wheatley, the former Minister of NRLI mentioned in that circular. That should not happen!!
What a sad, sophomoric stunt…..reeks of desperation. Do these people think the UK is really as stupid as they are? Time to clean house
A RESOUNDING NO!
So what about our constitutional right to vote and have a say in who we want. Isn’t this the same as a supposed UK takeover or is it OK because its our people. So we have a unified government with no opposition? Who will mind the rats while they minding the cheese? Dissolve the House and call elections if you really care about the people!
All this to please the WHITE MASTER
The people and/or the UK would have to be insane to back this blatant power grab by the ruling elites. This announcement mentioned absolutely nothing about the 40+ COI recommendations or any actual reforms they plan to enact. To allow this to happen would be a slap in the face to the people and the millions of UK and BVI taxpayer money spent on the COI. They all need to go and let us move on to real change. I only hope the UK is wise to recognize this as the cynical attempt to cling to power it is.
We seen how you run government, try to block the CoI, don’t cooperate with the COI and nkw that you caught you telling us you can fix. I will join the united party of the vast majority of us who want you all thrown out and let the clean up begin.
Oh please people give them a chance. Who else do you guys see out there with some little bit of experience that will be able to do better. At least these have some experience. They said it’s for 12 months. Let’s support them and see what happens. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know. If we see them doing wrong then we get rid of them in the coming election. They are going to have the governor on their back do they can’t mess up. I prefer this than a complete take over.
Give them a chance? They have had their chance. It’s not a complete takeover either. It is our only opportunity to finally get things cleaned up and suggesting we keep giving chances is exactly how we got into this embarrassing mess. At this point I have WAY more confidence in our Governor than our corrupted, self enriching, under the table, drug dealing, COI dodging, money laundering group of so call duly elected leaders. Throw them out!!!
Natalio I hope you know what you are doing…seems like you are crawling in bed with wolves. be careful. Hoping Andrew gets out because this is like a soapopera. Are these now the UK puppets?? Hope nobody selling out for temporary relief and long term problems.
Seems like all the Fahie die-hards have been kicked to the curb. Look mutiny!
We are in for a treat. ??
Anthill Mob
What amaze me, is that we the people of the BVI are our own enemies. We are a sad people.
What do we really want? Here we are as a country at the center of attention around the world and we are still fighting down each other. Our own indigenous people! We oppressed the island people for years. We don’t like them and wish that they go back on a banana boat but it is no different for your brothers and sisters here. Now here is a proposal for the sake of having the constitution not being suspended with a unity government and we still not satisfied with our own people and the proposal. The inappropriate name calling and judgmental statements are so appalling and degrading. It don’t look good. What do you prefer? The UK presence and control?
We all have some deep wounds to heal following the deception of our premier AAF especially after making us to believe that we were smearing his name and those of his family members only to know exactly what he was denying, was the case. But let’s be strong and stand with our leaders for the betterment of the beautiful Virgin Islands. Let us be positive that this unity government will bring change and a brighter future.
These folks don’t want to give up their cushy salaries and perks.
Maybe we should march against this
Sorry but unless they are willing to go into the ministries and rid them of the corrupt civil servants who work there then there is no point…. You can shuffle the figure heads but as the COI pointed out the corruption is rife amongst the civil servants working in those departments. There is some serious hard work to be done – if the leaders aren’t willing to put in the work it won’t get done. Unfortunately our election process has morphed over the years into a popularity contest with the winner not wanting to actually do anything, but once elected and appointed they allow their ministries to run as they always have because changing, questioning or verifying why or how things are being done is WORK.
Dear Hon Governor, we the people do not want this! Our trust has been betrayed !
My Heart is so heavy, people are asking for prayers after prayers for the government. Please, tell me who prayed for thr people who were struggling when COVID hit, when people were thrown out of their apartment because they cloudn’t afford paying their rent because their work place were closed down, when SSB told that they wasn’t qualified to receieve stimulus,my GOD what is really going on with people? This is so sad?
Surprises me how y’all on here begging to the slave masters.
@BORN HERE, You got to be high on something to write this comment. The only way forward is a full UK take over if not the BVI will go by the wayside. We will lose the trust companies, Andrew already started chasing the tourist away and trust me people won’t feel safe on vacation where we have a drug cartel. The only way out of this is a full clean up and these jokers can’t do what’s needed the UK should take over and clean up this mess, if they don’t the drug and gun running Won’t stop.
THE VIP PARTY HAS BEEN HIJACKED BECAUSE I DON’T SEE NO ORIGINALS IN THIS PHOTO
this is not the VIP party
Sorry this is a joke of a way to move forward. These group of corrupt people need to take a hike.
These people were all party to all the corruption and bad decisions uncovered by the COI, how can the UK government allow them to stay in office regardless of how they present themselves. If the UK allows them to remain in government the COI investigation will have been a total waste of time.
take out mitch and put in Frazer – a man with vast experience NOT SURE WETHER HE HAS BEEN COMPROMISE ALSO
So the COI report on labour and immigration highlighted the blatant discriminatory and illegal policies of the department which were obviously peddled by its head. Now Turnbull will address the people in his speech today with the same “born and bred here” rhetoric. Shameful.
Unity government? So yo mean NO OPPOSITION
No opposition mean NO ONE TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE
BVI really can’t be for real
Three family member ministers to cohoots
Boss minister controls wife bank
Minister of education with a what degree
Cats minding cheese
This is the biggest sham that is about to be perpetrated against the people of the BVI were it to happen. These guys have been wasting precious time organizing protest and misinforming and scaring the people about direct rule. The time should have been spend creating a blueprint that would address the issues the CO
This is pathetic. What a sad commentary. These guys wasted precious time organizing protest and misinforming the populace and scaring them about what would happen under direct rule by Britain. This time could have been spent creating a blueprint that would serve to address all of those egregious problems highlighted in the COI report. The time could have been better spent. What is the point of complaining about what would happen under direct rule if you are not advancing any meaningful plan that could avert it? How can they engage in a high level discussion with the Governor and Britain’s other representative without being adequately prepared. The same people they were asking to join the protest are the ones they should have telling of the plan to avoid “direct rule”. This is just a self-serving power move. Anything to hold on to the reins of government. Wheatley is not ready and neither are the others. They were afraid to speak up under Fahie but now they are finding the will to demote two of their members. They were complicit, afraid and rubber-stamped everything Fahie did, now they are suddenly grown spines. Yes, these spineless men of straws. By the way. Where is Fraser in all of this? Why is he left out of this sham National Unity coalition? Very interesting. People are not stupid and many are waking up from their slumber. Now they are trying to close the stable after the horse has bolted.
So who go be the opposition ? This don’t make no sense .
So everyone is government and no opposition. Bad to worse. Hmmmmm.
Agreed. The opposition is part of the “checks and balance” to hold the government accountable. No way the Governor would agree to this high level foolishness.
Either direct rule/call election now. All of our current elected members must GO!!!
Such a sad commentary. These guys wasted precious time organizing protest and misinforming the populace and scaring them about direct rule by Britain. All this time could have been spent creating a blueprint that would serve to address many of the egregious problems highlighted in the report. What is the point of having high level discussions with the overner
“protest and misinforming the populace and scaring them about direct rule by Britain.”
No, disagree. It was the BPM, British propaganda machine BVI News, that did that, not those gentle men. Some folk are just rotten evil..
JUST CALL ELECTIONS NOW
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In my opinion we dont need these 7 ministers to hold one head to make decisions for this territory. This does not make any sense. Just keep one (Dr. Wheatley) if anything.
But wait, what am I saying, get rid of his backside also, this guy cant control 7th district mustless a whole territory.
Get rid of ALLLLLL.
P.S. – Locals and Expats will have a cross party once these cl**ns are gone.
No thanks. They are both co**upt. UK rule for 2 yrs is the only way we can clean up. These so call leaders are no good for the country. They are only for themselves.
No one that has ever served in any BVI public office ever should be allowed to again. This is circling the wagons.
This is a disgrace. This is a desperate attempt to hold on to power by VIP and NDP.
Junior member of Tourism
I wondered why she crossed the floor ?
She is one who cannot be trusted big time
Why the hostility against each other? People from around the world read your comments and are detered by your childish and irresponsible behavior we have until February 2023 for new elections and you folks come on this platform to bash the good others are doing…the bvi is looked down on by the world..wake up bvi!