‘Wait until after Nomination Day for D9 Debate’- Dr O’Neal & Wheatley
The debate, organised by a group of young people on Virgin Gorda was to be held between the three declared political candidates in the nine district.
They are Virgin Islands Party's (VIP) Mr Vincent O. Wheatley, National Democratic Party 1 (NDP) candidate Dr the Honourable Hubert R. O’Neal (R9) and NDP 2 breakaway group called Progressive Virgin Islands Movement’s (PVIM) Jose C. B. De Castro.
However, in a signed letter dated December 31, 2018, two of the candidates have asked the organisers to wait until after Nomination Day to have the debate.
Debate now-De Castro
One of the candidates, Mr De Castro—who refused to sign the letter and whom many political pundits believe is polling last in the three-man race—is still insisting on the debate and went on a social media news station to claim, “the other two candidates have pulled out of the debate.”
Mr Julian Willock, a political aspirant who lost an internal VIP election recently, runs the political consulting firm, Advance Marketing and Professional Services and noted, “When you see candidates pushing for debates, it means that they are behind, this is clearly the case with Mr De Castro.”
Mr Willock said he believes, “The VIP and NDP Ninth District candidates made the right decision to wait until all the persons running in District Nine, were duly nominated so that each candidate will get a fair and transparent chance to participate.”
Anything short of that will be “wrong”, the Businessman and former Permanent Secretary told our newsroom.
Willock supports a debate
PVIM’s, Mr De Castro is claiming that after Nomination Day, they will “Not have enough time to coordinate a debate.” However, that has been rejected in a letter obtained by our newsroom signed by both Hon O’Neal and Mr Wheatley, a businessman and former Sister Islands Coordinator with the Government of the Virgin Islands.
Mr Willock said he supports debates in principle, as they could be very informative. He further says, this is what the new generation of voters are calling for, however, political parties and candidates must be careful that they are “not being set up”, especially by candidates who are perceived as being behind, “therefore, looking for a stage or a bounce.”
It is unclear if the debate will advance, however, sources close to the group told our news desk that “the debate is scheduled to go forward.”
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16 Responses to “‘Wait until after Nomination Day for D9 Debate’- Dr O’Neal & Wheatley”
Why is Willox's opinion of any concern?
Exactly, nobody is saying you have to wait until nomination day to campaign...folks done out campaigning. People may recall that before Trump got the nomination from the Republican party in 2016 that there were plenty of Republican debates to weed out the candidates.
I would want to understand the basis for not debating but still turn around in the same breath and campaign before nomination day if nomination day was so serious.
We need to start a requirement that debates take place between candidates for every district and also for territorial candidiates as well.