No Confidence Motion Against BVI Premier Natalio Wheatley Halted After Procedural Dispute

Premier Wheatley claims the no confidence motion against him was improperly filed, resulting in its removal from the agenda as opposition members accuse his administration of mismanaging public funds and diminishing quality of life in the territory

Rising on a point of order, Premier of the British Virgin Islands Natalio Wheatley objected to a motion of no confidence being brought by Opposition members during Tuesday’s sitting of the House of Assembly. “The correct procedure was not followed” for bringing the motion, Mr. Wheatley claimed, as the motion was sent to the Speaker of the House instead of the Clerk of Parliament as prescribed in Standing Order 23.

The no confidence motion was being brought as a result of Mr. Wheatley’s poor performance in government since last April’s election, resulting in what the Opposition described as “a rapidly declining quality of life” for BVI residents.

Wheatley’s blunders, chief among them a recent $20 million miscalculation in the territory’s public sector wage bill, have weakened the public’s trust and confidence in his administration’s ability to properly manage the affairs of the territory, Opposition members have argued.