BVI Elections: VIP “ready” and “extremely excited” – President de Castro

President of the Virgin Islands Party (VIP), Sharie de Castro, said her party is ready for the 2023 General Elections, though a date is yet to be announced.

“We are extremely excited about our slate of candidates to date, going into the 2023 elections,” said de Castro was quoted as saying in a press release on Monday, February 6, a day after the party held its congressional meeting to select members of its executive and confirm some of its candidates.

“We are ready to confidently represent and serve the people of these Virgin Islands. We also look forward to working together to take this territory in one direction, forward!” added de Castro who is the Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports and Territorial At-Large Representative.

According to the VIP release, under the leadership of Premier, Natalio Wheatley, the party has assembled what it describes “as a highly qualified slate of candidates”:

District Candidates:
1st District – Dr. Karl Dawson
4th District – Mrs. Luce Hodge-Smith
5th District – Hon. Kye Rymer
6th District – Hon. Alvera Maduro-Caines
7th District – Dr. the Hon. Natalio Wheatley
8th District – Mr. Allen Wheatley
9th District – Hon. Vincent Wheatley

At-Large Candidates:
Hon. Neville Smith
Hon. Carvin Malone
Hon. Sharie B. de Castro

JTV News reported in an earlier story that at-large candidate Shereen Flax-Charles along with the candidates for the second and third districts are the only ones left to be ratified.

The party said a “special meeting” of the Virgin Islands Party Congress will be convened in the near future to ratify the remaining candidates.

“The Virgin Islands Party remains committed to promoting good governance and demonstrating unity and strength as it approaches the 2023 general elections,” the release added.

Premier Wheatley won the congressional elections on Sunday, tallying 60 votes, with lone challenger, Carvin Malone, a party veteran, past party president, and current at-large representative, picking up only 12 votes.

Malone had signalled his intention to contest the chairmanship of the party a mere three days before the elections — last Thursday, the same day he announced in a statement, read by the speaker of the House, his decision to rejoin the National Unity government.