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ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – Virgin Islands Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) believes the governor’s request for more powers to implement Commission of Inquiry (CoI) reforms in the territory was meant to surprise the people and to coincide with the trial of former premier Andrew A. Fahie.

The Premier’s response came following questions from the media if at any point before Friday’s, January 6, 2024, announcement was there a conversation with the Governor as it relates to a further extension, with a November 2024 deadline.

“No, and I’m glad you brought that up…. Because just days before the governor’s press conference, we had a tripartite meeting,” Dr Wheatley told the Media during a press conference on January 8, 2024.

“This is a meeting with all the Permanent Secretaries, Financial Secretaries, all the Ministers and Deputy Governor, The Attorney General, the Cabinet Secretary and the Governor, and during that meeting, there was no mention for this request of additional powers,” he said.

Governor’s traditional parting gift?

The Premier further speculated that the move of the outgoing governor was meant to surprise the VI in the same manner former governor Augustus J.U. Jaspert announced a CoI towards the end of his tenure as governor.

“There was no mention of the extension of the November deadline and…. I can’t help but think that this is something that was planned to surprise us, and I can’t help but think that this was something that was supposed to coincide with the trial of Andrew Fahie,” Dr Wheatley added.

He likened the move by the governor as similar to when the CoI report was dropped, with the idea of suspending the VI Constitution, which coincided with the arrest of ex-Premier Fahie.

Meanwhile, the Premier said he believed the move was a well-planned one and a power grab by the Governor just as as a new governor is about to take the seat in the VI.

“I’ve been studying this type of behavior for a long time… these things are well planned and I would be saddened to know that, the governor saw… the trial of Andrew Fahie as an opportunity to reintroduce this whole idea of taking away our democracy from a different angle than the interim administration,” he said.

Devious plan by UK?

The CoI Report, which recommended a UK takeover of the Virgin Islands, was being held from the public but Governor Rankin saw it fit to release it the day after Mr Fahie was arrested in Miami on April 28, 2022.

After the Virgin Islands people demonstrated against a UK takeover and was supported by entities such as the United Nations, Caricom, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), University of the West Indies (UWI), and regional leaders, the UK held off on it but decided to institute an Order in Council in reserve to pressure the VI to implement the recommendations by a single commissioner handpicked by the UK.

Meanwhile, the trial for Mr Fahie was slated to begin on Monday, January 8, 2024; however, it was subsequently pushed back to January 12, 2024, and then finally to January 22, 2024.