UPDATE: Motion to remove Andrew Fahie as Premier passes in HOA
After a lengthy debate, members of the House of Assembly, moments ago, unanimously voted in favour of a motion to remove Andrew Fahie as Premier of the Virgin Islands.
The motion was passed 10-1 with At-Large Representative Carvin Malone being absent, and Neville ‘Sheep’ Smith acting as Speaker and thereby being unable to vote on the motion. Ordinarily, 13 elected members make up the House of Assembly.
Dr Natalio Wheatley — who is now expected to be sworn in as Premier once approval is granted by Governor John Rankin — said it was the right thing to do and the right step to take for the people of the Virgin Islands.
A new Cabinet is expected to be sworn in shortly for work to commence on reforming the Virgin Islands for greater transparency and accountability, Dr Wheatley said.
It was the Acting Premier who introduced the resolution to remove the territory’s disgraced political leader.
In the resolution read:
Whereas the Honourable Andrew A Fahie was appointed Premier having been recommended by the majority of the elected members of the House of Assembly after the 2019 general elections in accordance with section 52(1a) of the Virgin Islands constitution order
Whereas the Premier the Honourable Andrew A Fahie has been arrested and charged with money laundering and conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the United States of America
Whereas the arrest and charge of the Premier, the Honourable Andrew A Fahie has brought the integrity and sanctity of the role of the Premier into public and international disrepute and demonstrates a lack of character and suitability to operate in a public leadership role
Whereas these charges, the ongoing investigation and trial, will undermine the international confidence and reputation of these Virgin Islands
Whereas the Premier the Honourable Andrew A Fahie has not stepped down as Premier and remains in custody outside the Virgin Islands and unavailable to perform his functions and lead the government
And whereas the Virgin Islands constitution order 2007 section 53 (1) provides that if a motion on the [parliamentary] order paper — that the House of Assembly should declare a lack of confidence in the government of the Virgin Islands — receives in the House the affirmative votes of a majority of all the elected members of the House, the governor shall by instrument under public seal revoke the appointment of the Premier.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands that it does declare a lack of confidence in the government led by Honourable Andrew A Fahie.
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What is your taste. You want to be premier so badly. You know your friends when you are down. I agree that the move is necessary but what is the haste. The Governor will not approve it so cool your heels sawande and show some respect to the man who out you there.
What is the haste????
They should have cast his MS aside the moment he was arrested. FFS this is overdue, not hasty.
The man has not been found guilty of anything, at this stage it is just a charge which could turn out to be false.
Maybe you are using up the *** he is shipping
Guilty as phuc
You can pray for him and his family, feel sorry for him all you want but clearly he can no longer be Premier in the middle of all of this. The allegations do not need to rise to the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt for him to be unsuitable to remain Premier. He just needs to smell like a crook and right now he stinks to all h**l. I am surprised that is a stretch for some people.
It is not the verdict that is important here. What is important is the fact that he allowed himself to be in this situation. What the court decides is another thing.
And do you still believe in Santa Claus?
The haste is that he is a criminal. So he cannot be the Premier. What is not clicking??
Are you stupid? They haven’t moved quietly enough if you asked me. The BVI is in a battle for our future.
Get it STRAIGHT! Man did not put Natalio in that position!!
You are so pitiful defending this DISHONOURABLE PREMIER that is probably your relative that you can’t see past the COCAINE, GUNS, THEFT HE ORCHESTRATED IN THIS COUNTRY!!
HOW MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST AS A RESULT OF WHAT HE ALLOWED THAT HE ADMITTED TO BE DOING FOR 15 – 20 YEARS!!!!
STOP with the ASININE blogging!
THAT CRIMINAL DID NOT RESPECT WE THE PEOPLE AND YOU WANT TO COME TALKING ABOUT RESPECTING HIM???!!!
WE THE PEOPLE APPROVE OF THE NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE!!
Good point. And I am patiently waiting to see of any of the unsolved murders will be solved. I know something didnt add up with a few of them and I am a awaiting justice for the victims.
LMAO!!!! Best news I’ve heard all day. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA who gonna be eating popcorn now Stuffed Chicken?? And Johnny Walker can’t tell business owners who to hire….I LOVE IT!!!!!!
Justox
Look how power hungry these so called house members are, you all not doing it for the love of the country. We the ppl are not fools. We need new representatives in the house, ones with real solutions to our problems. Most of u was there in support of the so called greedy bill and other countless bills to aline your pockets. Now you have the ppl at best interest, get outta here with that BS.
They need to be in power as soon as possible to start the cover up.
….in their nest.
Imagine they tax your hard earn money sent thru WESTERN UNION AND MONEY GRAM, but the plane from Opa Locka executive airport was coming with 700,000 dollars. Who taxed that dope money
That’s what your hate is about. Making the UD$ here in the BVI and sending it out to your Country. You are not a contributor to building up this Territory. You just here to get what you can get into your pocket. Can you go in your Country and tell your Government what to do? H**l No! Life was hard for you there and you run come here to sprew your darn Crap.
But, people are already paying NHI,social security, rent and let’s not forget they shop at your stores,gas station,restaurants etc. And still the government wanted to get a piece of what they are sending outside the territory. Guess you are just as greed as the government SMH
Gov official number one was taxing a big chunk. No doubt more of to be shared to the other as yet to be revealed enablers. Let’s hope this new Gov not planning the cover uop. If sure feels like they protecting each other and not the VI people.
There is one point that is so obviously missing, and still remains.
That obvious point is even in the case of these pack pack of ‘wolves’ who now find it convenient to turn on, and removes their Alpha, are all at day’s end still a pack of wolves! They will hunt, kill, and eat the same way they always have!
To the UK, you are weak, and pathetic! To do the hard thing did not fit your political agenda! Those you gave audience to were oddly selective, and grounded in zealotry!
To our elected members, I’m pretty sure the majority of us in this Country still see you as the same group of predators with, or without your leader! However you mix it, or rebrand yourselves, you are one and the same!
To those of us that hoped for a brighter future through a definitive reset and a good house cleaning for those that put their blood, sweat, and tears into this country, we best go sit back down. We can only just get back to work and play by the same rules the UK have allowed this group to continue with.
After all this talk, and all this drama, in the end we are left with the same thing. The vocal minority clearly has won the day, and once again the majority of us just sat on the sideline and let it all happen.
Once and for all we are truly the architects of our own demise and no longer do we have an excuses! We had our chance, and we stayed in the shadows!
End your dejection.
In short order the HOA will be dissolved and Cabinet Members/Ministers be sent home by the Governor and be replaced. Only a week has passed since the Fahie Fiasco began.
To do other than “clean house” would be a betrayal of BVIslanders by the British.
The ducks are being placed in line.
As soon as the “Coach” is released on bond, even if he cannot return to the Virgin Islands, he will begin his campaign to (re-)take control. I think it makes sense to officially remove him from office as soon as possible under the constitution to limit the amount of damage he can cause.
I really hope that the Uk does not accept. Noting will change… same bunch of cr**ks. This man is so eager to be premier. Welsah! MRS MILLINGS DO NOT ACCEPT.
You are really hopeless. Stupid a…s
The arrogance of the “Head Coach” is shining through. Have some respect for your constituents, show some humility, resign.
How can the ministers call for a vote of no confidence against the Premier, in effect they are calling it against the government which I believe to be illegal.
What they are required to do is to cross the floor into the opposition which would call the government to fall, hence all positions would be vacated and they would all be just elected officials, hence the governor would either dissolve the HOA or allow them to form a new government body. Instead of blowing hot air and wasting time.
I was wondering the same thing
They can, and they did remove the Premier with a vote of no confidence. They have all (except one) crossed the floor to join a coalition government with a VIP majority. This would not be a VIP government. It’s quite simple.
Sowande doing the dirty work for the UK. There are no points to win. The die has been cast.
Leading up to the 2019 election, the very same topic of corruption and elected officials engaging therein and lootig the peoples money were being discussed…Today that topic is front news daily…
Indeed, one of the participants in that cyber conversation was told to “shut up, those before did, so iam going in to do the same.” Imagine the audacity!!!!!
Today, that elected official is next to the peoples money.. what should we the people think? Fact is, if that was the mentality going in, how will it change after getting in?
Truth is, it will not. Once void of integrity, will remain void of integretity. Hence, we must be very careful who we adorn with platitudes such as having good integrity and morals, simply because they attend a church while their true self selves are not are not known.
And how can any of us who are aware of such a statement, and the mentality/mind set have any confidence, as much as we would like to, in the people we see gracing the news sites now as our elected officials?
Will he/they keep his/their word and do as those before them did?
What is transpiring before us is mighty troubling….
As it appears, unfortunately, the BVI people are in for more of the same, by all indications.
This what you call burying a sick man before he dead..
It had to be done.
What the majority of us do not appreciate is just how much the decisions made now will demonstrate how seriously the BVI understands its extremely precarious position.
The BVI is at stake, not because of the UK alone, but because of our existing systemic corruption culture. WE put it here, WE endangered ourselves because WE failed to do what was necessary to ensure that OUR country rose above this “culture” and now WE are here and WE want to blame everyone else but US.
WE need to stop. What WE are getting now is a best case scenerio out of the worst options.
We have to pick one. They had to pick one because we are sure that the only option WE do not want is direct rule.
So what did WE imagine was left?
Drink the Red pill and throw away the blue one.
Come over to the reality of our situation.
Greed and power taken over from Due Process?
You want to be the founders a One Party State.
What happened to the calls for Democracy?
You do not have that in a One Party State.
People don’t be fool. Let start a protest please please, we do not want the bio government to run things. Let forget about fahie and do better for the country.
A week and a half short and one sealed letter from the Premier’s office and 500k short. These guys judgement suck or is it deliberate?
Implied Captain Guv to the loyal honest crew in the BVI. The mutinous dirty dozen are making lots of noise now to justify their pathetic existence in the sinking HOA. Give them enough rope to all hang themselves these next 2 weeks. After the hanging then the Guv can make the historical statement that the Constitution is suspended, the HOA dissolved ‘in infinitum’ and the rebuilding of the BVI will commence with an empty but clean house.
What? A one man opposition? No real Government watchdog? Really?
Sounds like an unwise decision to me.
I repeat the words of the Disgraced One: “If we don’t police ourselves, someone else will police us.”
We have been warned.
Good News. Now we gotten rid of the most corrupt Premier ever.
Am I missing something here? Did the COI Report not find gross misconduct in the grant awards to farmers and fishers? Whose ministry was that? Who is continuing to hold these portfolios? Mehson look yall looking for what you will not be able handle. This sham and wool you are trying to pull over the eyes of the people will result in a situation which is worse than what you have now. My humble opinion is to stop with clown show. Word to the wise!
That program was under the Premier Office.
This unity bunch is a sham. They do not represent the ppl only the establishment that the COI will crush
Our daily news is as follows. Premiere is locked up in US for drug trafficking and money laundering, 4 people are mowed down in a quiet village of Carrot Bay, VG has an armed robbery, and a truck has its trailer fall off in town.
Everything is out of control here. We see go fasts coming out of the sea at night right next to the marine police. Businesses with no customers are abound with millions of dollars in heavy equipment. Youth riding scooters in broad daylight transporting drugs, cash and weapons, and if not, at least practicing to do so. Young men with no jobs with fancy cars and boats well into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Incinerator that never works and beautiful islands filled with trash. Schools where kids are in almost inhumane conditions.
Lovely, god fearing people who can’t report crimes out of fear. Politicians quick to praise our Lord and even quicker to make a fast buck while all the above goes unsolved.
Somebody please tell me why you would have any confidence in our ability to govern ourselves after all this.
Leave the Incinerator out of this please while its been down the air has never been better.
Many of us are to wise for ourselves, it is this wisdom that is ruining our territory! Is God in our thoughts? Without God we are doomed! I expect strong criticism from the imps, but I fear none but God and so I try my best to obey Him. I falter everyday, but my aim to get up up, dust off seek forgiveness and continue trusting my redeemer. I forgive all haters and sincerely pray that we will seek God and love our fellowmen as Christ loves us. Set our affections on this above not on things on the earth, and pray for our leaders, that we may lead peaceable lives.
DIGEST THIS FOR A MOMENT
Whereas the people of the territory of the Virgin Islands have over centuries evolved with a distinct cultural identity which is the essence of a Virgin Islander;
Acknowledging that the society of the Virgin Islands is based upon certain moral, spiritual and democratic values including a belief in God, the dignity of the human person, the freedom of the individual and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and the rule of law;
NOW LETS TREAT EACH OTHER WITH RESPECT AND TRUE LOVE.
And let us love our neighbors and unite together and eliminate the drug trafficking and illegal activities from our future. Fahie and others have sold us out for their personal greed. Our future rests on the best education imaginable for our children who can help help us chart and maiming our way forward. We also need a plan to rebuild our infrastructure. A plan that doesn’t involve payouts to politicians who are making decisions. And finally we need a plan for a sustainable economy. What is our greatest natural resource? It’s the sun, warm water, constant breeze. These can be harvested to make a better and cleaner life for us all.
BVINEWS why do you keep showing photo of the HOA building when we have paying Clne God knows how much for how long to have them meet in Save the Seed?
Now we have a mixture of cr**ked still co**upt politicians that formed a new government. We the people of the BVI are amazing or amazingly stupid, people they are the same set that didn’t have the balls to take a stand in the first place. I am not going to the polls ever again.
You just might change your mind in time to come.
As a legal matter there seems to be something odd about a no confidence motion in oneself. The motion refers to a lack of confidence in the government led by Mr Fahie. Shouldn’t it be “a lack of confidence in the government” full stop?
That’s a lot of kicking and boxing and back stabbing and trampling for one man who was once their friend and leader. Not even a chance to defend himself, he ain even been found guilty as yet. We even hear his side of the story as yet,.His own people buried him alive…a lesson learnt hmm.
No strong opposition in the HOA, this provides the general public with the opportunity to pay close attention and to voice our opinions. We are the government,the are just representatives….
The king got thrown off his throne because of greed. Pride goes before a fall.