PENN: I was unaware of Alliance until after it was announced
Eighth District Representative Marlon Penn has revealed that he was unaware of the newly formed political alliance between NDP’s Myron Walwyn and PVIM’s Melvin Turnbull and Stacey Mather until it was publicly announced weeks ago.
Speaking on JTV News on Wednesday, February 12, Penn, who also leads the National Democratic Party (NDP), stated that he had been in discussions with PVIM leader Ronnie Skelton about a possible merger between the two parties. However, when asked whether those discussions included the Alliance, he admitted he had no prior knowledge.
“What happened in the Alliance, I don’t know. I wasn’t involved in the formation of the Alliance, if I’m being honest and truthful to the people of the Virgin Islands,” Penn stated.
“I learned about it after it was announced.”
Penn acknowledged that while discussions about uniting political parties had been ongoing, he was concerned about the circumstances under which the Alliance was formed.
“The minute you have splinters and fractures, it creates difficulty for the country moving forward. The same behavior that broke us cannot fix us,” he said, referencing the 2018/2019 NDP split that led to the formation of PVIM.
Walwyn, Turnbull, and Mather have stated that their ultimate goal is to form a single political party to contest the next general election, constitutionally due in 2027. They also claimed that both Skelton Penn and At-Large Representative Lorna Smith were aware of their decision.
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Hon. Penn you are not being truthful and you know this. You were invited to be a part of it and you did not accept because you want to hold on to the NDP as if it is your personal property. Myron, Mather and Mitch all said that they spoke to you, Lorna and Ronnie. They said it at their press conference and I believe them. What maybe they didn’t not tell you was that they were having a press conference which I can’t blame them for that. If you’re not joining why tell you about their press conference?
Hon. Penn, please tell the truth, as everyone knows you were one of the first approached to form this unity, however your quest to be the leader is bigger than your desire to come together.
My unfiltered views on this whole thing::
I see three action oriented people, Myron, Mitch and Mather being fed up of two laid back, entitled and frankly lazy political leaders in Ronnie and Marlon.
Why did it take the formation of an alliance and a press conference to get Ronnie and Marlon to meet to join the parties. In 7 years nothing was done but within two weeks of the Alliance having a press conference they could announce the parties coming together and they are meeting. This smacks of people who are trying to protect their political positions. That’s all.
The truth
Ronnie has gone beyond his “sell buy” date. He has no energy. He cannot inspire anyone. He cannot speak to save his life. He has been a terrible leader of the opposition as we have seen he fumbled two critical things (the Vote of No Confidence and the recent meeting of the House which was held to be void). Ronnie is responsible for the mess of the two parties. He lost the party elections and went out to form his own party because of this. This alone should tell you about the person he is. Ronnie wants to be Premier. That is all. My advice to him is to fall back and let the younger generation lead. Give them advice but get out of their way. You don’t have anything more to offer in direct politics that this country needs. This is evident from your performance as Opposition leader. You will be 75 years or so at the next election. Give others a chance.
Marlon, you are a likeable person but you are not a leader. It is very obvious and your party members know this. You could be a good team member but you do not have the level of leadership experience that the BVI needs now.
Both Ronnie and Marlon seem desperate to me to hold on their leadership positions that is why they run to do in 2 weeks what they failed to do in 7 years. From 2018-2025 nothing happened!
Stop the selfish and entitled attitude and join what these three legislators are doing. Look at it this way: Myron, Mather and Mitch even inspired Marlon and Ronnie to action. Imagine what they could do for the country.
The NDP ain’t going no where with Marlon as the leader. This should be very obvious by now.
Ronnie and Marlon are not genuine. They are the ones who are power hungry but trying to play it off on the others. All of a sudden both of them could meet and agree on merging the two parties because the Alliance came together? If the Alliance had never form there would be no conversation taking place about bringing those two parties together. That’s suspicious.!
Ronnie Skelton was on Tola Radio recently. Ronnie Skelton! He never ever been on that show and Heritage used to complain that he wouldn’t even take his calls when he used to be calling him to be on the show. Now all of a sudden he end up there because the Alliance formed? Ronnie on Tola Radio is like seeing a white person down in the Ghetto. That’s suspicious!!
Ayo could fool blind people but my eyes wide open.
like he looking to just bare minimum his way into being premier by holding on to NDP chairman position even though he is not the best person for it. tell us why all previous attempts to merge ndp and pvim has failed?
Who jumped the gun, those 3 M’s?
Ronnie was the one who broke up the NDP because he could not take the loss to Myron. So because it is convenience t for him and you all of a sudden you all coming together because the alliance form? Ronnie and Marlon are behaving entitled and none of them have been effective party leaders.