Skelton-Cline was at the time speaking during the August 16, 2022, edition of his Honestly Speaking radio show on ZBVI 780 AM.

“We can no longer afford to water down leadership in this country, the challenges that we face, that we will continue to face… we must set a standard for how we go about electing persons in this country.”

Skelton-Cline added that in a democracy, anybody should be allowed to run however, an unwritten rule embedded in culture should also mandate that while anybody can run, anybody cannot be elected.

Voter registration line at the Virgin Islands (VI) Election Office in Road Town. Claude O. Skelton-Cline He says that oral tradition should say that the people of the country must be able to wisely and prudently choose women and men who are able and available to lead and also have the ability to run the country.

No population elections - Skelton-Cline

“We can no longer afford to elect persons purely based on popularity, this is not pageantry, this is politics,” he said.

Skelton-Cline added that the job of a politician is to navigate the affairs on behalf of the country and as such, should not be based on popularity since these individuals have important decisions to make.

“We are partly responsible for who we elect and how we go about electing people, so there needs to be a standard embedded in the oral tradition of our culture that says yes, in a democratic society anybody can run, but not anybody can’t be elected,” he said.

He said that oral tradition should say that the people of the country must be able to wisely and prudently choose women and men who are able and available to lead and also have the ability to run the country.