Protest in BVI over planned dissolution of Parliament, direct British rule

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, CMC – People took to the street outside the official residence of Governor John Rankin to protest the recommendations of a report of a Commission of Inquiry that examined allegations of corruption and abuse by elected and statutory officials.

The one-man commission has outlined several recommendations including that the British Virgin Islands government cease to exist in its current format for at least two years.

The protest coincides with planned meetings involving UK Overseas Territories Minister, Amanda Milling, with local stakeholders on the report.

“We as Virgin Islanders come to say to the United Kingdom that you should not suspend our constitution in an attempt to establish direct rule over us,” said Bishop John Cline.

Cline said he wanted to speak directly with Milling and the Governor.

“We cannot sit back and accept this atrocity. We cannot sit by and let this happen. We say to the UK, Amanda Milling, you cannot want for us what you do not want for yourself…We do not want our Constitution suspended.

“We live in a democracy, we do not want the Constitution suspended for six months, much less two years. We do not want it suspended at all. We want the right to elect a government, we want the respect of the UK and we want the respect of the UK in helping us determine our destiny.”

Cline said that while the islanders acknowledge that there are some faults, “if you push us, we will push back.

“We want the UK to come alongside us and create political systems…for good governance. We want to be in a respectful partnership with the United Kingdom. We want the UK to change the international narrative that they have set around the world that the people here are corrupt.

“There is corruption in the UK, there is corruption in America…Russia, in every country….we want to say, do not settle for anything less,” he said, as the protesters shouted “no direct rule, no direct rule”.

Cline called for the UK government to re-think its position on the recommendations.

Rankin said that the commissioner had recommended “a return to Ministerial Government and an elected House of Assembly as soon as practicable, with the Governor taking regular advice from the Advisory Council and others on the earliest practicable date on which such government can resume.

“Secondly, the commissioner recommends an early and speedy review of the Constitution with the purpose of ensuring that abuses of the type he has identified do not recur, establishing a Constitution that will enable the people of the BVI to meet their aspirations including those in respect of self-government within the context of a modern democracy.”

But as they took to the streets on Monday, the protesters shouted “A people united will never be divided” and called for Britain to allow the status quo to continue”.

“We will not be removed,” they shouted as they marched under the gaze of law enforcement authorities, with protest music blaring from speakers mounted on the back of a truck.

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