The Tuesday, October 31st 2023, sitting of the house of the House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands took an unexpected turn as all 6 members of the Opposition decided to prematurely leave the sitting.
The bone of contention? The Government’s decision to push the Question and Answer segment to the tail end of the Order Paper.
This move was described as a show of disrespect towards the Opposition by the Wheatley-led Government, by leader of the Opposition the Honourable Ronnie Skelton.
Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley, who introduced the motion, insisted that this decision was not a deliberate attempt to incite or antagonize the Opposition.
He explained that it was a response to concerns raised by public officers who felt overwhelmed by the number of questions posed by the Opposition Members, which they believed could not be adequately addressed in the time allotted before Tuesday’s sitting.
The Honourable Myron Walwyn, Representative for the 6th District, questioned the real reason behind public officers’ inability to respond to questions in time, highlighting a string of lengthy statements delivered to the house by government members that morning.
“The very civil servants he refers to, who are tasked with answering our questions, are the same ones who have to draft statements for him,” Walwyn argued. “So perhaps the real issue for civil servants is that they are burdened with writing these lengthy, drawn-out statements.”
With neither side willing to compromise, the Speaker put it to a vote.
The result? A 7:6 vote that clearly reflected the divide between the Government majority and the Opposition.
Following this vote, Opposition members rose from their seats and exited.
The sitting continued with only government members present.