Who will be the next Deputy Speaker?
Local attorney Daniel Fligelstone-Davies said he is interested in seeing how the government will solve the issue of appointing a Deputy Speaker for the Fifth House of Assembly, given the uniqueness of the recently-formed coalition government.
Section 64 (4) of the BVI constitution says, the House of Assembly shall elect a member who is not a member of the Cabinet to be Deputy Speaker of the House. This means no Minister is allowed to be elected as Deputy Speaker.
Speaking on the Hot Seat radio show, Fligelston-Davies — who unsuccessfully contested the April 24 general elections as a Territorial At-Large candidate — reasoned that this will be difficult since all seven members of the VIP-Lorna Smith coalition occupy a ministerial post or a junior minister post.
“The major issue is who is going to become the Deputy Speaker of the House because the Deputy Speaker cannot be a minister and it has never been someone in the Opposition. In this instance, you have seven ministers, which is the full side of the government, so who is going to become the Deputy Minister now?” Fligelstone-Davies questioned.
The public is now waiting to see if the government will choose a Deputy Speaker from the two junior ministers — Luce Hodge Smith, Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism; and Karl Dawson, Junior Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.
If this were to happen, it wouldn’t be the first time a junior minister is chosen to be Deputy Speaker. Under the last National Democratic Party (NDP) administration, former Junior Minister for Tourism Archibald Christian was appointed as Acting Deputy Speaker for a short time.
If that option is not pursued, the government may have to choose a Deputy Speaker from the Opposition. Though this has never happened in the BVI, section 64 of the constitution doesn’t explicitly state that it can’t be done.
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1. Prior to 2015, the Constitution did not allow for junior ministers. In 2015, the Constitutional Order 2007 was amended to allow for two junior ministers (I have attached hereto) which were to help ministers advance the economic development of the Virgin Islands. In that amendment, a new section, named “52A” was added to the Constitutional Order.
2. Section 69(4) of the Constitutional Order states
“When the House of Assembly first meets after any general election and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other business except the election of the Speaker, it shall elect a member of the House who is not a member of the Cabinet to be Deputy Speaker of the House.”
3. Section 52A(4) states “Sections 61, 69(4) and (5) and 74(1) shall apply in relation to Junior Ministers as they apply in relation to members of the Cabinet.”
That is the reason why a junior minister cannot become a deputy speaker.
Luce Hodge- Smith
Give it to Budha
Give It to Hon. Stacey Mather
The VIP/Lorna Smith coalition does not have to choose from the opposition as the Junior Ministers are not members of the cabinet. So they have the option of choosing Luce Hodge-Smith or Karl Dawson as Deputy Speaker (or any one from the opposition).
Stop using that name fraudulently!
Thats his application.
Based on his performance at the COI bush cutting would be more his thing.
A junior minister is not a member of cabinet and is represented in cabinet by the senior minister, hence based on interpretation jr minister can be deputy speaker.
THey are not part of Cabinet but the constitution states that they are noted as such ministers and cannot hold the deputy speaker post. hence last time Sheep was the only one without a ministerialpost and so he held it.
In this case, all the VIP administration members hold a ministry, so it is only left to use from the other side.
Note that on the very first day of business of the HOA, the House can vote to amend such clauses allowing a Jr Minister to the deputy speaker seat or they can vote to hire someone outside of both government and opposition.
Mr Fligelstone-Davies did us no favors with his nonsense and nonsensical talk during the COI hearings. We deserve a government made up of people who are there to serve us, not play games.
Boy, go sit down…
budah??? Strupess. What degree he holds? He’s a selfish person.
It i was the Premier or a member of the Ruling Governing Party. I would have selected a member of a supporter of the opposition party to be the House Speaker. This is mainly for transparency and neutrality, so to allow for peoples trust and country stability within the BVI… Also to gain support from the opposition in bringing the BVI forward. Just my idea; the VIP will have no problem in winning the next election.
Hon Fraser is the better choice because he has the most experience in there.
Lmfao….you are a real blunt tool mehson. You still jealous of him cause you got rejected ?. What degrees Sheep got? Or matter of fact how well are Natalees’s degrees working out for us?!? You pleb….
you want the bush cut that badly?
that is correct….
Please acquaint yourself with the law before tossing yourself under the bus.
Yes so that is why he said it would be interesting as to the way they go. May 18 the entire BVI will tuned in.
Give it to Daniel
And I don’t want any friends , in my book ” right is RIGHT and wrong is WRONG ” so you can keep your sh*t at home ,or you will be FLUSHED ( INTEGRITY ) only