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by pltm
(PLTM) - Governor Augustus Jaspert has shot down claims that his office has a ‘stronghold’ on the Cabinet of the Virgin Islands.
Responding to the issue from members of the media yesterday, June 30, he said, “The stronghold is a misrepresentation of our Constitution.”
He said according to the Territory’s Constitution, the situation is one of a partnership between the government and his office.
Governor Jaspert stated there is an entity called the Cabinet Steering Group (CSG) which includes himself, the Premier and the Cabinet Secretary. That group would peruse the agenda and collectively agree on the documents that would go to Cabinet.
“Both the Premier and myself can also add on papers specifically so if we don’t reach an agreement; obviously, we are in a partnership, and we aim to reach an agreement, but most of it is driven by the ministerial priorities as put forward by the papers that come to Cabinet. Every now and then I would put a paper relating to specific areas of responsibility that I may have or that may be relating to the police or security issues or criminal justice of public service or whatever. It is a partnership approach at CSG,” he explained.
In that vein, Governor Jaspert said he was looking forward to the upcoming constitutional review.
“Our constitution is about a partnership for the people of the territory, and within that, the elected government and the leader of government business take forward the vast majority of the work through to Cabinet. I think it is important that we have a constitutional review and debate so that people come out with the correct facts and understand the situation of the constitutional review,” the Governor stated.
He said with the constitutional review, it is the view that residents of the Territory will be informed on how things work, “the strengths, the weaknesses, the issues, the areas for development.”
He also mentioned that there should be a debate on the powers of the Governor in this day and age, a topic that has been often raised in several quarters locally.
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