The Virgin Islands should set a date for a political-status referendum and discuss a “timetable for independence,” Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley suggested this week while speaking at the United Nations in New York.
During his Monday-to-Wednesday trip, Mr. Wheatley discussed decolonisation at a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee, which deals with non-self-governing territories. The premier gave the committee an update on the VI government’s ongoing push for more autonomy through the coming constitutional negotiations.
He also praised a report that the UN’s Special Committee on Decolonisation, known as the C-24, issued after sending a mission here in August 2024.
“The report made clear the British Virgin Islands is ready for a change of political status to achieve a full measure of self-government,” Mr. Wheatley said. “My government welcomes the findings and recommendations of the report, which calls for, among other things, an education programme on self-determination, full internal self-government, and a timetable for independence.”
The premier also listed the powers he wants transferred from the governor to the elected administration.
“The primary constitutional advancement my government is seeking is full internal self-government,” he said. “This will require the UK devolving to the elected arm of government constitutional responsibilities currently held by the UK-appointed governor — including internal security, the public service, administration of the courts, and external affairs. It would also include the premier chairing Cabinet as the head of government, as well as a fixed future date for a referendum on change of political status.”
Ahead of his New York visit, Mr. Wheatley outlined his agenda during a press conference in Road Town on Friday.
“I will also pursue follow-up discussions regarding technical assistance from the UN to support an education programme on self-determination here in the Virgin Islands,” he said. “This initiative is in line with recommendations from the UN C-24 visiting mission to our territory.”
The premier — whose New York plans also included a meeting with James Kariuki, the United Kingdom’s deputy permanent representative to the UN — added that Britain’s decision last month to remove the threat of direct rule over the territory was an important step in the right direction.
After pressure from the VI and other Caribbean nations and territories, London announced plans to rescind the threat wielded under an order in council, which it brandished in the wake of the 2022 Commission of Inquiry report.
“The lifting of the order in council marks a significant milestone in our journey towards self-determination,” the premier said during the press conference. “Not only did we protect the hard-earned constitutional gains of our ancestors when we secured the right to undertake the reform, but we placed ourselves in a position to advance their aspiration for us to continue to be the masters of our destiny.”
VI’s ‘best interest’
Though some of the COI recommendations were controversial, he said, the reform process strengthened the territory’s hand as it moves toward talks with Britain on modernising the 2007 Constitution.
“It is unequivocal that the outcomes it produced are in the best interest of the Virgin Islands and have placed us in a stronger position to negotiate a constitution that provides for greater self-governance based on having a strengthened level of accountability, transparency and trust in the conduct of the people’s business,” he said.
The government, he added, remains “steadfast” in reforming the VI in the wake of the COI recommendations.
“This is our iron-clad commitment to continued and ongoing governance reform that will ensure that the changes to our governance are positively manifested in the lives of the people of the Virgin Islands,” he stated.
The premier said the revocation of the order in council showed what the VI can achieve when it works together as a territory.
CORRECTION: This article has been amended to correctly reference the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee and the UN’s Special Committee on Decolonisation (C-24).
