New Government Ministers Appointed in the BVI

These past few days have been tiring yet exciting. We have new leadership with the National Democratic Party (NDP) government and there is a lot of work to be done. The following ministers were sworn in on November 9:

Premier & Minister for Finance and Tourism: Hon. Dr. D. Orlando Smith
Deputy Premier & Minister for Natural Resources & Labour: Hon. Dr. Kedrick Pickering
Minister for Communications & Works: Hon. Mark Vanterpool
Minister for Health & Social Development: Hon. Ronnie Skelton
Minister for Education & Culture: Hon. Myron W. Walwyn

Congratulatons to the new Ministers and the rest of the cabinet! See Welcome to the New 2011 NDP Government for the full information.

The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly are yet to be named but this will come shortly. We are also awaiting the name of the Leader of the Opposition from the Virgin Islands Party (VIP).

The new government is already at work and we are ready to work along with them.

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The BVI Elected New Leadership on November 7, 2011

On Monday, November 7, 2011, the people of the British Virgin Islands voted and made a change in the leadership of the country.

Monday, November 7, 2011 marked a new day for the people in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). They went to the polls which opened at 6AM and voted for the persons who they felt were worthy of leading their country. After several marathon hours of counting, the Virgin Islands Party was ousted as the people chose the National Democratic Party team to lead the country.

How the BVI Votes

The BVI elects representatives in nine electoral district seats and with four at-large territorial seats. The nine districts cover Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and all the islands in the territory. The territorial seats are chosen by all the registered voters of the country. There needs to be a majority of seven representatives to form the government and the other representatives would sit in the opposition. Any elected representative can be named Premier and be a member of the cabinet. The ruling party decides who will lead and the Ministers of Government namely for the Ministries of Finance and Tourism, Communication and Works, Natural Resources and Labour, Health and Social Development and Education and Culture.

Parties Contesting the Elections

In 2011, there were 43 candidates vying for seats in the 2nd House of Assembly. There were sixteen candidates aiming for the four at-large seats and 27 persons spread across the nine districts vying for seats. Among the 43 candidates, there were four parties, the incumbent Virgin Islands Party (VIP) with 13 candidates, the National Democratic Party (NDP) with 12 candidates, the People's Patriotic Alliance (PPA) with four candidates and the Party Of the People (POP) with one candidate. There were also 13 independent candidates of which 9 spread across the districts.

Winners of the 2011 BVI Elections

After voting concluded on November 7, counting started. Some districts were completed by 11PM but the at-large votes were not completed until around 11AM on Tuesday. Many people stayed up with counters, not just for moral support but because they truly wanted to know what the BVI's destiny would be.

• First District: The constituents of the 1st District voted for the incumbent Honorable Andrew Fahie of the Virgin Islands Party over the independent candidate Preston Stoutt.
• Second District: VIP's Honorable Alvin Christoper was once again victorious. He won over NDP's Claude Skelton-Cline and independents Allewine Smith and Leall Rhymer.
• Third District: The Honorable Julian Fraser, a VIP incumbent, remained the 3rd District's representative as he narrowly won over NDP's Kevin Smith.
• Fourth District: Honorable Vincent Scatliffe of the VIP was ousted by the NDP's Mark Vanterpool. Collin Scatliffe also competed for this district.
• Fifth District: The fifth district voted for NDP's Delores Christopher over the VIP's incumbent, Hon. Elvis Harrigan.
• Sixth District: The incumbent VIP's Hon. Omar Hodge was unseated after 32 years of representation by NDP's Alvera Maduro-Caines.
• Seventh District: In the 7th District, Honorable Dr. Kedrick Pickering remains as the district representative. The constituents chose Dr. Pickering over VIP's Ronnie Lettsome and independent Allen Wheatley.
• Eighth District: In the 8th District, Marlon Penn of the NDP stood victorious over VIP's incumbent Honorable Dancia Penn Q.C., the outgoing Deputy Premier and independents Nolan Davies and Bevis Sylvester.
• Ninth District: In a close contest, the outgoing Premier, Honorable Ralph T. O'Neal of the VIP narrowly won over the NDP's candidate Hubert O'Neal. The other persons contesting this seat were independents Devon Osbourne, Samuel O'Neal and Laurie Rhymer.
• At-Large Winners: The National Democratic Party secured all the At-Large seats with winners, the new Premier, Hon. Dr. Orlando Smith, Myron Walwyn, Archibald Christian and Ronnie Skelton. The VIP's At-Large candidates included incumbents Honorable Keith Flax, Honorable Irene Penn-O'Neal and Zoe Walcott-McMillan. The PPA had Shaina Smith, Natalio 'Sowande Uhuru' Wheatley, Elton Callwood and Khoy Smith. The independent candidates for the territorial votes were Eileene Baronville, Lionel Penn, Edmund Maduro and Bertrand Lettsome.

At the completion of the counting, the National Democratic Party secured nine of the thirteen seats and the Virgin Islands Party took four seats. The new Premier, Hon. Dr. Orlando Smith will be sworn shortly and his members of Cabinet who will also be the Ministers of government will be named in due course.

Welcome to the New 2011 NDP Government

Welcome to the Honorable Members of the 2nd House of Assembly in the British Virgin Islands:

1st Andrew Fahie - VIP

2nd Alvin Christoper - VIP

3rd Julian Fraser - VIP

4th Mark Vanterpool - NDP

5th Delores Christopher - NDP

6th Alvera Maduro-Caines - NDP

7th Dr. Kedrick Pickering - NDP

8th Marlon Penn - NDP

9th Ralph O'Neal - VIP

At-large:

Dr. Orlando Smith NDP

Myron Walwyn NDP

Archibald Christian NDP

Ronnie Skelton NDP

 

We have all repeated one phrase today, "The people have spoken". For the previous months, many repeated "Leh We Do This Thing". From today forward, I say it's about "doing the real things". We have infrastructure to mend, a hospital to complete and staff, tourism to revive, agriculture to grow, education to truly go from so-so to good and youths to empower and inspire positively.

We also have to remember that while we have elected representatives, we also have our work to do to. I hear people saying that the new government will not do us right and we will be sorry. I firmly state that we will not let them slip to that point - the point we were at on November 6, 2011. We have to help them work to get our BVI back on track. If we can co-exist with our representatives and the opposition, then we do more.

In relation to the opposition, we have four vocal VIP representatives who I expect will stay on the issues. Otherwise, they should not expect to be back in the next election. Many of them almost were ousted so they need to watch their backs. The want and need for power is crippling and this is why we have to work with all our reps to keep them grounded.

I pledge my support to the 5th district where I am about to go to live and to the 6th district where I attend church, have family and where my children's school is located.

We have to keep 'doing this thing' - this unity, this national pride - to keep our heads afloat in this trying times. Welcome to the Honorable Dr. D. Orlando Smith and his Cabinet. We are looking forward to your best representation as we work together to improve our BVI.

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Voting of At-Large Votes Still Being Completing but it looks like NDP

As I rush to prepare to head to work, the NDP team still looks like they got the four AT-Large votes from the voting public in the BVI. There may be another two hours before the AT-Large votes are counted. I will be updating the blog tonight with the final information.

I think we can say that the NDP Government is back in from 2003 and have ousted the VIP Government who was voted back in 2007.

All the best to all the elected persons. We have a lot of work to do so let's do it!!!!!!!!

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At-Large Ballots Still Counting at 5:33Am

There is still no confirmed close to the At-Large votes as yet. The NDP candidates are still ahead. However, VIP's Irene Penn-O'Neal seems to be edging in on Archibald Christian.

I went to sleep after two because I was really tired. I'm about to get ready for work and get the children on the go.

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BVI Elections - At-Large Ballots Still Being Counted

The At-Large ballots are still being counted in the BVI Elections. So far, the National Democratic Party is in the lead with Archibald Christian, Myron Walwyn, Dr. Orlando Smith and Ronnie Skelton. The Virgin Islands Party with Zoe Walcott-McMillan, Vernon Malone, Irene Penn-O'Neal and Keith Flax are trailing.

The People's Progressive Alliance with Natalio 'Sowande' Wheatley, Shaina Smith, Elton Callwood and Khoy Smith are coming along as well.

The independants are Lionel Penn, Eileene Baronville, Betrand 'Washasha' Lettsome and Edmund Maduro. Lettsome is so far doing the best in the independents and has run a good campaign.

There is no doubt that all the boxes have to be counted before clear winners are declared. However, if leads start to stretch then we'll know what's going to happen.

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VIP has retained 4 Districts and NDP has grabbed up 5

These are the district results for the November 7, 2011 BVI elections:

First District - Andrew Fahie (VIP) returns
Second District - Alvin Christopher (VIP) returns
Third District - Julian Fraser (VIP) returns
Fourth District - Mark Vanterpool (NDP) back from 2003
Fifth District - Delores Christopher (NDP) back from 2003
Sixth District - Alvera Maduro-Caines (NDP)
Seventh District - Kedrick Pickering (NDP) returns
Eight District - Marlon Penn (NDP)
Ninth District - Ralph T. O'Neal (VIP) returns

The At-large ballots are still being counted so there is no way to say who will run the government yet.

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