Turnbull issues apology for missing no-confidence debate
Second District Representative Melvin “Mitch” Turnbull has delivered an apology to his constituents and the wider Virgin Islands, admitting he has been “beating himself up” after missing the chance to debate the critical motion of no confidence against Premier Dr. Natalio Wheatley’s government.
“I felt like I let myself down, let the people down, let the Leader of the Opposition and the members here within the opposition down, because I was there and I was ready to debate,” Turnbull said at an Opposition press conference last week. “I even indicated to the Speaker before I left that I had planned to debate this bill.”
Turnbull said he was among the first members to arrive at the House of Assembly on the day of the motion and had been fully prepared to contribute. But with the sitting delayed for members to attend the funeral of the late Shabazz Hodge, he made the fateful decision to also leave. By the time he returned, debate had been closed, leaving Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn the only member to argue the case before the vote.
“I shouldn’t have left,” Turnbull admitted. “By the time I got back, the Speaker was already calling for the Leader of the Opposition to wrap up.”
A missed debate, a painful regret
Turnbull described the experience as a personal failure that continues to weigh heavily on him.
“I want to let you, the people, know that I have been beating myself up about not being there,” he said. “I was ready. I was actually not going to talk for three hours, but I was going to give my contributions to the debate on the issues that surround this territory.”
Still, Turnbull emphasised that he stood firm when it mattered most: casting his vote in favour of the motion alongside Walwyn, while seven government members voted against, one opposition member abstained, and two were absent.
Government celebrates, people still suffer
The failed motion has already been branded by government members as a “paltry attempt” to destabilise the territory. But Turnbull fiercely pushed back, accusing the Premier and his colleagues of ignoring the real issues facing Virgin Islanders.
“So everything that was put forward in those 23 clauses, they chose to ignore them and just support the Premier as if everything is okay,” Turnbull said. “I believe what it was, was the opportunity to awaken the Premier and his government that they can’t continue to carry on like they have, and not attend to the cries of the people.
With the government celebrating its survival, Turnbull warned that nothing has changed for ordinary Virgin Islanders.
“The suffering still continues in the Virgin Islands,” he said. “Nothing seemingly is changing. The government seems to be on a celebratory moment that they defeated the vote, but the issues still remain.”
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Yeah, but this is not unusual for any of the HOA members. Across the spectrum, it is embarrassing how these elected individuals have little or no regard for the county or the people they were elected to represent!
Drinking the Devil’s poison
Good trick Mitch
PERFECT TIMING by those 2 smart man
When men are elected to make good decisions, but instead elect to produce boy rsults. When men rule like boys.
What a mess we in. Not one headline promoting progress, accomplishments, hope or good governance.
Unexplained missing millions, excuses, apologies and no evidence of progress or work being done. What a great news headline worthy way of starting off a week!
The worst group of inefficient and incompetent elected people we have ever assombled by vote.
Weare to blame along with the absentee ruler’s oer sightings.
As been said and known, we frig!!
If he was really intent on returning in time for the debate, surely Hon. Turnbull could have asked Hon. Walwyn to call or message him when they reached that section of the order paper. He needs to come better than that – not all of us went to school in August!
it wouldn’t be the first nor last time that you have lied. go figure
That Lil boy Turnbull knew walwyn’s move was and is a waste of time and a man filled with greed for the top position. So he found am excuse not to be there. Everyone else knew that.
Is the only reason it have a lot of these politicians out and about talking and trying to look like they doing things lately
Shabazz is a BVI icon good move to show your respect. Debating will always be there
Apology accepted. What can we do but accept? Tardiness is something that seems to be infiltrating our HOA regularly. Members walk in and out whenever they want to and miss whatever they want to. The people’s business takes a second to whatever else they have going on. It is sad really to see the disrespect. The politicians of yester-year who valued their work and their positions as Politicians once the House was sitting was there early and left only when things were closed off unless there was a major emergency. Today, with cell phones in their pockets, and texting and email, Cash App and Internet banking that is done right from the House floor, the opportunity is still taken to run off to pick up and drop off whatever or meet with whomever.
This is not only on HOA day, however. You drive around Town and every ribbon cutting exercise or any exercise where there is a camera present many politicians are there. Burying the dead, no disrespect intended, is more important than running the country. Because it seems to me that sometimes you will make it but sometimes duty will call, shouldn’t it, and not only travel overseas. So no invitation to anything here or abroad is missed. We are now reaping the fruits of that. Politicians who had a history of getting things done, you saw them on their way home, if you were lucky because they had way too much to do than to travel all the way to Anegada to stand up in their shades, looking cool next to solar panels, three strong, one example. So it seems to me that until our politicians take the work of the country seriously and focus and direct their Ministries, this Territory will continue to suffer. I always jokingly say a cell phone in the hands of a politician is a bad thing because before they had to stay in their doggone office to get calls and pick up messages.
I say get to work and do the work of the country or get out of the way. Too much slackness going on. Nobody’s working. They think they are, but there are no results, so they must not be.