ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, CMC – Just over a month after he dismissed rumors that his administration could be moving towards holding an early general election, Premier Dr. Natalio Wheatley is getting ready to announce the election date this week.
“We are not going to have early elections,” he had said in February.
The House of Assembly was dissolved last Friday, paving the way for the general election that must be held within two months. General elections are constitutionally due by mid-May.
Wheatley became head of government after premier Andrew Fahie was detained in Miami in April last year by United States agents posing as cocaine traffickers from a Mexican drug cartel.
He said that his ruling Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is close to finalizing its slate of 13 candidates for the election.
“Some time ago, we would have gone to our party Congress where we selected ten individuals to move forward for this general election, and we will have a Congress to ratify our remaining members. We should have the Congress over the next few days,” he told the CARIB Update television program.
At least four political parties and several independents are expected to contest the elections, but Wheatley said he remains confident that the VIP would be returned to power.
“We have been able to steady the ship, we have improved our relationship with the United Kingdom, and of course, we have been able to implement recommendations. The United Kingdom has expressed its pleasure in the progress even though some areas have to improve.
“But generally, they are pleased with the progress, and of course, people of the British Virgin Islands are pleased with the progressed made so far and correcting things in our governance,” he added.
Last year, the British government decided not to impose direct rule on the BVI, despite a report finding gross governance failures in the territory.
The review had recommended the BVI’s constitution should be suspended, and its government dissolved amid corruption concerns. But the foreign secretary will instead allow a new administration to implement reforms in the next two years.
The inquiry was commissioned in 2021 amid claims about corruption and misuse of taxpayers’ money. In his report, the sole Commissioner, British judge Sir Gary Hickinbottom, had described the state of governance in the BVI as “appallingly bad.”
Sir Gary had called for a two-year suspension of the BVI constitution, cessation of the elected ministerial government, and the imposition of direct rule by the UK. He also recommended reviews of the government’s welfare payments, the sale of public land, and law enforcement on the islands.
Residents of the BVI took to the streets outside the official residence of Governor John Rankin, protesting the recommendations. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) government also condemned the move by London.
In its condemnation, the sub-regional Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) noted, “the general feeling is that we don’t understand why the British in the 21st century, making decisions similar to what they had done years ago in other countries”.
In the last general elections held on 25 February 2019, for 13 of the 15 seats in the House of Assembly, there was a total of 41 candidates nominated, including 11 women.
The parties contesting the poll were:
- The then-ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
- The VIP.
- The Progressive Virgin Island Movement (PVIM).
- The Progressives United (PU).
There were also two independent candidates in the 2019 race.
The VIP won eight of the 13 seats, and for the first time, women won three seats in the House of Assembly.
Voters in this British Overseas Territory elect 13 representatives for a four-year term, nine (9) of whom are electoral district representatives and the other four as territorial-at-large representatives, the Attorney General, a non-voting, ex officio member, and one elected Speaker.
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