Dr The Hon Natalio D. Wheatley tipped to be Deputy Premier
Many political and social pundits had believed that the current Deputy Premier, Hon Carvin Malone (AL), the Minister for Health and Social Development, would have secured the second spot in the Fahie-led VIP Administration after serving the longest in the rotation.
Premier Fahie had announced that, as part of his unconventional government, he would rotate all his Ministers in the post of Deputy Premier and at the end of the rotation he would choose a permanent person for the position.
Dr Wheatley In! Hon Malone Out?
It is unclear what led to the Premier’s final decision; however, no one is questioning if Dr Wheatley is capable. He has emerged as a powerful speaker in the House of Assembly (HoA) and, outside of Premier Fahie, has the second-largest ministerial portfolio.
Hon Wheatley, who defeated another Deputy Premier- Dr Kedrick D. Pickering- in the 2019 general election as one of the biggest upsets in that poll, also served as the immediate past President of the VIP and was a long time lecturer at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC).
Despite opening a District Office, which was not done by his predecessor, and announcing and implementing various initiatives to promote his constituents, including businesses, his critics’ have claimed he is not on “the ground in his district” and that many of his Seventh District residents feel neglected.
They have also claimed he has not made a move to clean up the Ministry of Education with many of the former controversial Minister Myron V. Walwyn’s “holdovers” that continue to undermine him and cause havoc to the local education system.
Those who defend Dr Wheatley; however, have noted that his critics in the Seventh District seem to “want him to do in 20 weeks what the former representative, Dr Pickering, did not do in 20 years.”
Political pedigree
His supporters have noted that Dr Wheatley, whose grandfather was a Chief Minister, remains humble and easy to access, and is a sincere politician.
Dr Wheatley is an educator by profession and holds a PhD in Languages and Cultures of Africa from the University of London.
The Virgin Islands Constitution makes provision for a Deputy Premier in Section 52 (2).
At the time of publication, neither Premier Fahie, Hon Malone nor Dr Wheatley had responded to our request for comments.
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34 Responses to “Dr The Hon Natalio D. Wheatley tipped to be Deputy Premier”
One in the West and one in the East. What better balance?
mr minister good whishes and continue to trust God the three crooks wanted to put you under the bus but God open a way for you because he sees that you are honest in your dealings. They make you look bad but you still turnaround and spoke well of them I worked at the Elmore Stoutt Hihgh School and i can tell you what trachers and others along with my self experienced with miss holy roller things to talk what you donot see in dark night the light now shining and a lot will be exposed teachers suffered a lot under holy roller the PS better check her self and try to do the best for this country ans stop the 3 sided behaviour there isa lot to say but God will say the rest as for the principal a little S;; person tes a good job has been done through out the COVIT but the half has never been told the C888888E8888O******* need to go home and read her bible to cure her self from the wrong thingd she did to people God is not sleeping that is all I wiol say the rest will come to light some day not all who say Lord will enter the kingdom of God so let the light continue to shine so the darkness cannot stay Minister keep your head on
Good move yall
He is working against the premier. I am glad that the premier is neither blind or stupid.
He need to help people from being a coward