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CARROT BAY, Tortola, VI – Embattled Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP 1), Hon Myron V. Walwyn (AL) is warning against the prospects of a collation government in the Virgin Islands (VI), noting that a coalition will not work and would be a major setback to the territory.

In urging citizens to vote in a majority government at the upcoming February 25, 2019, General Elections, Hon Walwyn was at the time addressing residents of District One in the Carrot Bay community on the main island of Tortola, where his party does not have a district candidate.

They Will Fall Apart – Walwyn

“Now there are some persons who of late, seem to be enthralled by the idea of a coalition emerging from the next week’s General Election. They clearly do not understand the inherent risks that face a country with coalition governments,” he warned.

He said coalitions work better in opposition, “when the common interest among the different parties is [the] replacement of the existing government.”

According to Hon Walwyn, “As these different parties have nothing else in common to bind them together, original differences soon emerge once they get into government. They haggle over the most basic issues and the coalition eventually falls apart. Is this what some people really wish for the BVI at this time?” Mr Walwyn questioned.

He continued, “A coalition would be a major setback for the economic prospects of the BVI at this critical time. We have been saying repeatedly in this campaign that now is not the time to gamble with the future. If you really want to secure the future and keep the BVI… in safe hands, then re-electing the NDP with a clear majority is the only logical option,” while warning that shockwaves of political instability cannot be afforded in the territory at this time.

Politics of Disunity & Division

Many political pundits and even religious leaders have long accused the Dr D. Orlando Smith (AL) and Hon Walwyn led NDP 1 government of employing ruthless divisive politics and disunity.

In 2018, man of the cloth and ZBVI ‘Honestly Speaking’ Radio Host Claude O. Skelton-Cline in his appeal to the territory and religious leaders warned, “We cannot sit on the side-lines and allow politicians from any group to divide the people who have lived and love together we must speak out from the pulpit… say we are in this boat together.”

Further, political pundits have been accusing the NDP 1 of running one of the most divisive political campaigns in the history of VI Politics, putting locals against foreigners and even attacking close diplomatic neighbours like the United States Virgin Islands (USVI).