Bishop John I. Cline has described the emergence of new political parties to contest the next general elections in the Virgin Islands as simply a manifestation of a hunger for power. Photo:Facebook

During a Facebook Live session on December 17, 2025, Bishop John I. Cline addressed the formation of these new parties, attributing their rise to the stagnation currently experienced in the Virgin Islands due to an ineffective government. Photo:Internet Source

During a Facebook Live session on December 17, 2025, he addressed the formation of these new parties, attributing their rise to the stagnation currently experienced in the Virgin Islands due to "an ineffective government". 

'No real national plan'

According to the Interim President of the National Democratic Party (NDP), a long-term vision for a better Virgin Islands has been replaced by a short-term game and personal ambitions.

"We have no real national plan, no real national vision. There’s no one telling us where we will be in the next 10 to 20 years or how we intend to get there. It seems like their slogan has changed; it has been flipped, so now it's forward never, backward ever.’’

A free-for-all

As a result, according to Bishop Cline, we  have a "free-for-all".

He said it started with the formation of the Alliance, which he still fails to grasp the logic of, and now there are reports of new parties being formed.

"We tried that in 2018 with Progressives United (PU), led by Julian Fraser, and the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM), headed by the Honourable Ronnie Skelton. It didn't work. It didn't work."

A new party?

He continued, ‘’Now you try to bring people back together and then now you have not only the Alliance, but I'm hearing about the New 13. This is madness. But what it boils down to is nothing more than greed and a hunger for power.’’