This was revealed by the Premier in a statement on May 24, 2022, where he noted that the CoI Report calls for its recommendations to be implemented under direct rule where the Governor would sit as the sole authority.

True Modern partnership with UK

“Alternatively, however, the Government of National Unity has conceptualised how implementation would work under democratic governance in which the Governor, Premier, Cabinet, Ministries and the House of Assembly work together to implement the recommendations,” he said.

Hon Wheatley said in the proposal submitted to the United Kingdom outlines a framework for implementation, which would divide responsibilities accordingly.

“The Governor would be responsible for overall implementation of the CoI Report recommendations, in partnership with the Premier, and monitoring the Government’s work programme and implementation timetable,” he said.

He added that the Premier would support the implementation of the recommendation through engagement with the Governor and coordination of the Ministers of Government.

Dr the Hon Wheatley said under the Unity Government Proposal, the Governor would be responsible for overall implementation of the COI Report recommendations, in partnership with the Premier.

Premier will drive legislative reform

“As the Leader of Government business in the House of Assembly, I would also drive the legislative reform agenda; the Cabinet would be responsible for agreeing and passing policies necessary to implement reforms,” he further revealed.

For the local Ministries, Hon Wheatley indicated that they would be responsible for implementing the reform policies agreed by Cabinet and the House of Assembly would be responsible for passing all relevant legislation necessary for delivering reforms.

He said using that proposal, the Government of National Unity believes that such an approach would allow for the successful implementation of the CoI Report recommendations under continued democratic governance.

Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) has reached out to the Premier for information on when the proposal submitted to the UK will be made public; however, no response was received up to publication time.