I Will Not Seek Re-Election As NDP Leader—Dr. Smith

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Melissa Edwards/BVI Platinum News

(PLTM) - Leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Premier Hon. Dr.D. Orlando Smith will not be seeking re-election to lead the party into the next general elections.

Dr. Smith made the announcement last evening, June 18.

The party is set to hold its Convention to choose a President (leader) and other officers this Saturday, June 23.

"The question I have asked myself is whether I should seek to continue to lead the party. And after much thought and prayer, after discussing the question with my colleagues and with my family - I have concluded that I should not," he said.

Dr. Smith continued, "And so, when the NDP comes together in its upcoming Convention, I will not seek nor accept the nomination to lead the party into the next election."

He stated that it is his expectation that the Convention will see other candidates offer themselves up to lead.

"And the assembled party-members will select a new leader."

BVI Platinum News previously reported that Dr Smith is likely to not seek re-election and that there were three front-runners- Hon. Myron Walwyn, Hon. Ronnie Skelton and Hon Dr Kedrick Pickering. However, since that time, Dr Pickering has dropped out of the race, leaving Hon. Walwyn and Hon. Skelton.

Dr. Smith's Full Statement

Good evening my fellow Virgin Islanders.

Nearly two decades ago, a small group of friends came together to talk about the future of our country.

We met in living rooms and hotel conference rooms throughout the Territory. We had no offices, no organization, no formal agenda.

What we had was a sense of mission.

We believed that it was our duty to give back to this country, which had given so much to us.

All of us were, after all, the beneficiaries of the generations that had come before us.

Our parent’s generation had struggled and sacrificed to lay the foundation of the modern BVI.

They had established our model of self-governance; they had begun the work of building our tourism and financial services industries; they had laid down roads, built air and sea ports, brought commerce and technology to our shores.

As a result, my generation enjoyed opportunities that would have been rare – if not totally out of reach – to earlier generations.

We were given the chance to become lawyers and bankers, engineers and teachers, businessmen and public administrators, and, of course, doctors.

We had been blessed in our lives. And we understood that it was out turn to pay those blessings forward.

And so we came together and launched a new party – the National Democratic Party.

It was one of the great privileges of my life to be selected by my peers to lead this new party. And together, we set out to bring change to the BVI.

That is what we sought to do every day since.

Over the course of nearly twenty years and five election campaigns, we have offered one simple vision: to use the resources we have today to strategically invest in a greater tomorrow.

Virtually every project and policy implemented under NDP leadership has been in that spirit.

We focused on growing our economy and created the conditions for our Territory’s gross domestic product to surpass one billion dollars.

We carefully conserved public resources and were able to set aside reserves in excess of 60 million dollars – money that proved crucial in the recent hurricanes.

We worked with our regulator and the private sector to build a global financial services sector that is admired throughout the world and that has continued to thrive in the in the face of unprecedented attacks.

We invested in our tourism sector, building the cruise ship dock and pier park village, and supporting the construction of some of the first new resorts built here in decades.

We supported local business by putting in place the Business Bureau and providing access to loans.

We built Peebles Hospital, and launched the National Health Insurance policy.

We built a modern rubberized track at the AO Shirley ground that has helped to train many athletes including our recent gold medalist.

We built the Virgin Island technical school and saw the Community college through its accreditation process.

To be sure, we had failures, as well as successes. We made mistakes along the way.

But through good times and bad, we never swerved from our philosophical North Star.

Each and every one of the achievements we delivered was rooted in that basic belief that we must invest today in order to realize gains tomorrow.

Of course, much of this progress was wiped out in last year’s disasters.

The floods and the hurricanes damaged almost every structure in the Territory. We lost most of our infrastructure. We lost schools and businesses and clinics. We lost most of our hotels and villas. We lost most of our bareboat fleet.

Most painful, we lost fellow countrymen whose memories remain in our hearts and minds.

It has been my duty to focus every ounce of my energy and attention on the recovery effort.

And while we are still far from a full recovery, I am pleased with the progress we have made: our charter boat fleets are back in the water, the Pier Park is being made ready for the next season, public buildings including our schools are being readied for reconstruction as is some critical infrastructure.

Perhaps most importantly, I am happy that after much discussion and debate we are moving forward with the establishment of the Recovery and Development Agency which will grant us access to the money we need to rebuild.

We expect that in the coming weeks the Head of the Agency will be on the ground to get on with the task of rebuilding in keeping with Government’s policies.

As Government continues through this process of recovery, I have been faced with an important choice.

At some point next summer or may be even before we will have another general election.

In that election, the NDP will once again stand.

The question I have asked myself is whether I should seek to continue to lead the party.

And after much thought and prayer, after discussing the question with my colleagues and with my family - I have concluded that I should not.

And so, when the NDP comes together in its upcoming Convention, I will not seek nor accept the nomination to lead the party into the next election.

It is my expectation that the Convention will see other candidates offer themselves up to lead.

And the assembled party-members will select a new leader.

And while my journey as the Premier and leader of the Territory will come to a close at the end of this Government’s term in office, the mission that was launched so many years ago lives on.

Indeed, that mission is more critical than ever.

For my friends, a third chapter is about to be written in the history of the modern BVI.

The first chapter was written by my parents and grandparents generation. The men and women who forged a modern and thriving country.

The second chapter was written by my generation.

We did our best to take the blessings granted to us by our predecessors and solidify the foundations of our economy and our country.

Ultimately, we will be judged by God and by history – and I hope and pray that our efforts will be deemed worthy.

I believe in my heart that the BVIslanders of our generation – no matter their party, no matter their politics – worked truly and diligently to build a better country for all.

And when I look around at this Territory – even after last year’s disasters – I cannot help but believe that we have done well.

But now, it is time for a new chapter to be written.

Tragically, the opening pages of that chapter will be defined by the hardship of natural disaster.

But I am convinced that the pages that follow will be a tale of triumph, for as a great poet once said, setbacks such as those we experienced can serve to “shake the soul, and let the glory out.”

And I am confident that with the right leadership, the coming years and decades will be bright for the BVI.

We have the opportunity to take our economy to new heights at a time when global capital continues to seek safe, reputable jurisdictions for conducting legitimate cross-border business.

We have the opportunity to build a tourism product that is second to none in the world, as travelers from near and far seek experiences that are peaceful, authentic and infused with the unparalleled beauty of nature.

We have the opportunity to empower our people to do more than ever before, as we drive excellence in all our schools.

We have the opportunity to make world-class healthcare and a financially secure retirement a right enjoyed by every BVIslander.

We have the opportunity to build up a reliable, resilient infrastructure that meets the needs of our people– and withstands the storms that lie ahead.

We have the opportunity to stand tall on the world stage in sports, the arts, music and food – teaching the world what it means to be a small Territory with a big heart and a big soul.

We have the opportunity to rise from the depths of despair caused by the hurricanes and emerge a stronger, more united people.

I will be forever grateful for my season of service on behalf of my fellow BVIslanders.

I am grateful for all those who have been my fellow travelers through good times and bad over these past twenty years – who have shared with me the victories and the defeats.

I am grateful to my wife and family who have stood beside me and given me strength when I needed it most.

I am grateful to the people of the BVI who entrusted me and my colleagues in three out of the past four elections to lead our Territory and whose hard work, creativity and bedrock values are the true engines for our growth.

And I am grateful for the one year we have left in this government’s term – a year that I am committed to making a time of relentless effort to continue down the path to recovery.

There is so much work left to do. With this decision, I will be free to dedicate 100 percent of my time and attention to that task.

I will try to do so as I always have – with humility and with a promise that while I may never be free of mistakes or of missteps, I will always seek to do the right as God chooses to show me the right.

I look forward to that work ahead.

And I look forward to the bright future that we, the people of the BVI, will build together.

Thank you and good night.

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