Informal meeting Soon - Premier

Hon Fahie, speaking on the Tuesday, September 3, 2019, edition of ‘Honestly Speaking’ with host Claude O. Skelton-Cline, said there will be "an informal meeting" very soon with Members of the House of Assembly, "and that is going to be one of the things on the agenda in terms of the constitutional review, because the time is now to push for that and our aim is by at least the end of September to name a Chairman."

The Premier noted that in the informal meeting, the government will be looking for input from House Members on the structure of the Constitutional Review Committee and to set target points. Following that, the process will move into public consultation on the way forward.

"This is not a political constitution, this is a constitution for the people of the Virgin Islands so the input of the entire Virgin Islands will be sought, in terms of the areas of the constitution that we need to improve upon."

The Premier said areas his administration will be looking for feedback on include accountability and transparency for elected HoA Members, public entities and the Governor, in addition to policies on strengthening self-governance.

Respecting Powers

According to Mr Skelton-Cline, the review is two years overdue and hence, a way forward must be charted given recent "encroachment" which he says includes Governor Augustus J.U. Jaspert's exercise of powers outside of the constituiton.

"This is a concern we've been having presently with the current Queen's Representative, who somehow in our view is interpreting the constitution different to us," Hon Fahie said.

He said there is a clear role for Ministers and the Government regardless of which political party is in power and that those roles must be respected.

"We feel there is encroachment now on those lines," Hon Fahie noted which includes too much interference from the Governor and this he says, has become a 'bone of contention' as his administration carries out its mandate.

Recently, the unelected Governor thrashed the recommendations of the Public Service Commission (PSC) regarding appointments of Permanent Secretaries and proceeded to make his own appointments.

In a statement on September 3, 2019, Hon Fahie said the Governor's actions signaled his lack of confidence in the members of the Public Service Commission to perform in a manner that protects Her Majesty’s Service.

"This is a very serious aspersion that the Governor has cast on the members of the Commission who are among the brightest minds of the Virgin Islands with long, unblemished careers and who are stalwarts of our territory."

Premier Fahie, in thrashing any suspicion that the PSC might have been biased to the current government, said all the sitting members of the PSC were appointed during the term of the last government and four of those commissioners were not appointed based on any input from the current Premier, while two of those persons were selected by the Governor himself, including the Chairman of the PSC.

"Further to this, Section 91(9) of the Constitution Order stipulates that “in the exercise of its functions the Public Service Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.” The PSC is therefore an independent institution."

Scaling back of the Governor's powers

The Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007 was scheduled for review in 2017 but was delayed due to the hurricanes of that same year that ravaged the VI.

One of the items that was high on the agenda for discussions during the planned review phase by the last government was the scaling back of the powers of the Governor.