BVI must unite before UK talks
A prominent Cayman Islands legislator has issued a stark warning to Virgin Islands leaders as the territory prepares for crucial constitutional negotiations with the United Kingdom. District Eight...
A prominent Cayman Islands legislator has issued a stark warning to Virgin Islands leaders as the territory prepares for crucial constitutional negotiations with the United Kingdom. District Eight Representative Marlon Penn told the House of Assembly that during a recent conversation with Caymanian House Speaker Ezzard Miller, he was cautioned that the BVI must not approach London divided. “He said to me, 'Whatever you guys do, do not go there divided.
Do not go there fighting,'” Penn recounted. “He said, 'You have to leave here with one view in terms of where you want to take your country and its people.'” Penn added: “I agree, this is too important an issue, of a document, of a process for us to do otherwise.” He stressed that the process must rise above political divisions. “This process has to be one that is void of politics, void of partisanship.
It has to be truly one of nation-building. The decisions that we make in this committee stage and subsequently in the negotiations will drive the way of life for the people and for persons who are going to sit in this House long after we are gone.” His comments come as the BVI remains politically fractured, with elected officials frequently clashing over major policy issues — from the Commission of Inquiry reforms to public spending priorities and the timing of governance changes.
These disputes have raised concerns that the territory may struggle to present a strong, cohesive front when it faces UK negotiators. But Penn said the goal must be to resolve internal disagreements during the committee stage, then leave with a single position that represents the will of the people. “Once we’ve argued, once we’ve debated, once we’ve discussed, finalised and voted on it — that is the view we are taking forward on behalf of the people of this Virgin Islands.” The constitutional review process, which will help shape the future governance structure of the territory, is widely regarded as one of the most consequential political exercises since the 2007 Constitution was adopted.
Primary source: BVI News