BVI wouldn’t have had any COI with NDP — Dr Pickering
Former Deputy Premier Dr Kedrick Pickering has suggested that there would have been no Commission of Inquiry (COI) held for the territory if the National Democratic Party (NDP) had remained in government after 2019.
Last year’s damning COI report concluded, among other things, that successive BVI governments have routinely ignored good governance and the rule of law over the years.
During a recent NDP political rally, Dr Pickering said it can be agreed, regardless of which political party persons support, that the territory is currently in a difficult position but had been ‘on the move’ when the NDP had been in office in the eight years between 2011 and 2019.
“Everybody could agree that, apart from the fact that the National Democratic Party created its own problems for itself and split up, had it stayed together [and] stayed focused, we’d still be running this country, we won’t have had no COI,” Dr Pickering said.
“I think we could agree on that, no matter what; all the noise you might hear, the country was doing well under the National Democratic Party,” Dr Pickering insisted.
Dr Pickering spoke about major issues affecting the territory such as climate change and said the BVI needs competent representation on the international stage.
The territory, according to the former Deputy Premier, needs to have a government that will fight in the areas which need such representation and he said his party offers a team of persons capable of such a fight.
“These things are not just something happening that happens willy-nilly,” he added. “We had a leader in Dr [D Orlando] Smith that, when he travelled, his presence in the room spoke volumes and people used to want to know, ‘what’s happening?’ You know, people were anxious to get to know more about the BVI.”
Dr Pickering said his NDP was not about fighting with anybody or about mudslinging. “We are here to provide opportunities and ideas for the long term and to make this country better for all of us,” he said.
During a recent NDP political rally, Dr Pickering said it can be agreed, regardless of which political party persons support, that the territory is currently in a difficult position but had been ‘on the move’ when the NDP had been in office in the eight years between 2011 and 2019.
“Everybody could agree that, apart from the fact that the National Democratic Party created its own problems for itself and split up, had it stayed together [and] stayed focused, we’d still be running this country, we won’t have had no COI,” Dr Pickering said.
“I think we could agree on that, no matter what; all the noise you might hear, the country was doing well under the National Democratic Party,” Dr Pickering insisted.
Dr Pickering spoke about major issues affecting the territory such as climate change and said the BVI needs competent representation on the international stage.
The territory, according to the former Deputy Premier, needs to have a government that will fight in the areas which need such representation and he said his party offers a team of persons capable of such a fight.
“These things are not just something happening that happens willy-nilly,” he added. “We had a leader in Dr [D Orlando] Smith that, when he travelled, his presence in the room spoke volumes and people used to want to know, ‘what’s happening?’ You know, people were anxious to get to know more about the BVI.”
Dr Pickering said his NDP was not about fighting with anybody or about mudslinging. “We are here to provide opportunities and ideas for the long term and to make this country better for all of us,” he said.
