Should VIP insist Fraser and Smith join party ranks?

Political commentator and clergyman Claude Skelton Cline has urged the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) to require that Deputy Premier Julian Fraser and former Deputy Premier Lorna Smith formally join its ranks.

The outspoken commentator contended that such a move would promote unity and strengthen the government’s effectiveness.

“I would no longer sit, if I was a Virgin Islands Party member, and allow the member of the Third and the At-Large member to continue to be a part of my government without joining my party,” Skelton Cline stated. “The Congress of the Virgin Islands Party needs to put a demand and command this moment by ensuring that the members of government show their hand, declare their hand.”

Julian Fraser, the Progressives United (PU) leader, currently serves as Deputy Premier in the coalition government led by Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley. Initially elected as an independent candidate, Lorna Smith joined the VIP shortly after the 2023 general elections, a move that surprised many and drew criticism from various quarters.

Skelton Cline questioned where these political figures would stand in the near future and suggested that the party should push for their allegiance.