No clear path! VIP may lose majority at upcoming elections
Political commentator Claude Skelton Cline has suggested that the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) government may struggle to retain its current majority in the House of Assembly (HOA) at the next general elections.
Looking at the numbers ahead of the upcoming general elections, the political pundit said a coalition government may have to be formed given the lack of support that he has been seeing.
With the loss of former Premier, Andrew Fahie, to the US justice system, the VIP currently holds a tenuous seven-seat majority in the 13-member legislature.
The party has also suffered an additional setback ahead of the upcoming polls, with one member springing a surprise defection to the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) recently, after contending that her views no longer align with the party.
“I don’t see a clear path with what has been presented to us, thus far, with neither the Virgin Islands Party, the National Democratic Party, nor the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement. I don’t see where any of them have any clear path to a minimum of seven at the moment,” Skelton Cline said on his Honestly Speaking radio show.
According to Skelton Cline, if the goal is to be victorious in an election, parties have to know the numbers they are working with.
“So, unless there’s going to be some alliance and/or some agreement in principle where the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement and the National Democratic Party is going to work in tandem, then I don’t see how you overcome the numbers just in fair play or at the base. I don’t see how you get to victory,” he argued.
But Skelton Cline also said any coalition government being formed could be fraught with challenges if issues are not properly worked out and settled ahead of the elections.
“Well, you see the whole notion — and I don’t too much like the coalition because when you wait until after, you don’t end up so much with a coalition. You end up with a collision,” he stated.
Skelton Cline argued that candidates should put aside their personal ambitions, pride and egos as the territory’s future hangs in the balance.
Skelton Cline has been a part of the major scandals that have rocked the party in the last four years.
With the loss of former Premier, Andrew Fahie, to the US justice system, the VIP currently holds a tenuous seven-seat majority in the 13-member legislature.
The party has also suffered an additional setback ahead of the upcoming polls, with one member springing a surprise defection to the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) recently, after contending that her views no longer align with the party.
“I don’t see a clear path with what has been presented to us, thus far, with neither the Virgin Islands Party, the National Democratic Party, nor the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement. I don’t see where any of them have any clear path to a minimum of seven at the moment,” Skelton Cline said on his Honestly Speaking radio show.
According to Skelton Cline, if the goal is to be victorious in an election, parties have to know the numbers they are working with.
“So, unless there’s going to be some alliance and/or some agreement in principle where the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement and the National Democratic Party is going to work in tandem, then I don’t see how you overcome the numbers just in fair play or at the base. I don’t see how you get to victory,” he argued.
But Skelton Cline also said any coalition government being formed could be fraught with challenges if issues are not properly worked out and settled ahead of the elections.
“Well, you see the whole notion — and I don’t too much like the coalition because when you wait until after, you don’t end up so much with a coalition. You end up with a collision,” he stated.
Skelton Cline argued that candidates should put aside their personal ambitions, pride and egos as the territory’s future hangs in the balance.
Skelton Cline has been a part of the major scandals that have rocked the party in the last four years.
