TIMES.VG

BVI, Caribbeanand International News
TIMES.VG

I never set deadlines for gov’t formation — Rankin

I never set deadlines for gov’t formation — Rankin

Governor John Rankin has denied ever setting any sort of timelines for the formation of a government after the recently held general elections did not produce a clear winner, arguing that the normal precedent is for parties to be given multiple days to resolve any issues that arise.
“Well, the fact is, and contrary to some statements I’ve seen, I did not set a deadline,” Governor Rankin said while appearing on the Talking Points radio show recently. “I would certainly have given parties, had it been necessary, time to see if they could form the necessary arrangements to have those seven votes in the House of Assembly if they had not been able to.”

“If they had not been able to come up with a solution themselves, then actually the normal precedent in countries with the Westminster system and Commonwealth countries in the overseas territories would be for the governor in this instance, to give a number of days for it to be resolved,” he stated. “Had it not been resolved then, we would likely have had to have had another general election.”

Rankin explained that, under Section 52 of the Constitution that governs the appointment of the premier and the government, the general principle is, if a single political party gains a majority, then they form the government and the premier is appointed accordingly. However, he noted that if no political party gains a majority, then a judgment has to be made.

I wrote to party leaders

The governor disclosed that he wrote to party leaders ahead of the elections pointing out the provisions of the Constitution on that particular issue. He noted in that missive that, in normal circumstances, as the majority, one would expect a government to be formed quickly, suggesting this could ordinarily be within a day of the election results.

He added: “Clearly, if there had been a number of days’ delay in forming the government, I might then have set a deadline, but we did not reach that stage.”

When asked whether he would have considered someone from a minority party to be selected as premier in forming the government, Rankin stated: “I would look to whoever as Premier could form a working majority in the House of Assembly because that’s what is necessary for government business to be carried on.”

The controversial switch

Deputy Premier, Lorna Smith, OBE, contended recently that she felt there was a need to move the country forward and expressed concern that the territory was in a state of limbo without a government being formed, even though less than 24 hours had elapsed after the elections had been completed.

Smith has been heavily criticised by members of the political opposition, including Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Marlon Penn, and members of the public for her unilateral decision in establishing an alliance with the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) to help form the new government.

But the Deputy Premier has since doubled down on her position about the need for moving ahead with urgency as it relates to the formation of the government, suggesting recently that her hand may have been forced after she was left out of leadership discussions between her NDP colleagues and other members of the now-opposition.
Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.VG
Close
0:00
0:00
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Last Walmart in North Portland Closing Down
Florida's DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls the British monarchy "an absurdity" he wants to remove in his lifetime
King Charles III being crowned.
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Discuss Migration, Defence, and Ukraine
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
CNN: "Joe Biden is asking for four more years — when 74% of Americans think the country is heading the wrong way“
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Cuts Short Live TV Interview Due to Health Issue
US Congresswoman threaten Twitter Files journalist with arrest
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh slams New York Times' pro-government stance and treatment of sources
Enough is enough: it's time to end the war in Ukraine. While Russia may be to blame for starting it, Russia is not the one refusing to stop it
Fox News Settles their case with Dominion Voting Systems for a staggering $787.5 MILLION
AG decries scapegoating and rushed lawmaking by government
The land of the free violence
21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira has been arrested for leaking classified Pentagon Documents
The Supreme Court will allow a 12-year-old transgender West Virginia girl to compete on her middle school’s girls' sports teams amid a lawsuit over a ban
Bank of America cuts short conference after outrage at Ukraine comments
Revealed: royals took more than £1bn income from controversial estates
Mitt Romney calls Trump indictment 'overreach,' says charges were 'stretched' to suit a 'political agenda'
The G-7 aims to make global crypto regulations tougher
Don’t Dismiss China’s Peacemaking Bid
China and Brazil have signed a new deal that will allow them to trade in their own currencies, bypassing the US dollar as an intermediary
Elon Musk and Others Call for Pause on A.I., Citing ‘Profound Risks to Society’
Nashville style execution
×