Not surprisingly, the sensitive, perennial issue of who should qualify to stand for
 membership of the legislature has featured as a prominent problem. This was related
 to a suggestion for districting (i.e. the election of legislators on a constituency basis)
 and was raised in the context of the appropriate residency qualification.15 The
 recommendation was that the residence requirement be raised from three to five
 years. Further, "a member must be a resident of his legislative district for at least two
 years preceding his election." Most important were the reasons given for these
 changes. These were stated as follows:

 The Virgin Islands, more than most territories, is
 confronted with a heavy influx of transients each year.
 The ways of the Mainland are not always the ways of
 the Islands. Accordingly, a person should have spent
 some time as a permanent resident before he is
 entitled to sit in the legislative body governing the
 people of these Islands.16

 Even now, it is predictable that who should qualify for membership of the
 legislature of the Virgin Islands will persist as an issue to be addressed in any future
 constitution. There will continue to be demands that those standing for political office
 establish a sufficient nexus with the territory.
 One of the major concerns of the drafters was that the Virgin Islands be served
 by a strong governor. Evidently, it was partly in this context that emphasis was placed
 on "the important role that the Virgin Islands can play in Caribbean Regional
 Cooperation." A need was identified for a thorough examination of the future role of
 the Virgin Islands in regional cooperation. As was stated, the concern was that "the
 Virgin Islands extend leadership direction in regional cooperation with its
 neighboring Caribbean Islands."17 These are not altogether unexpected sentiments
 given the location of the Virgin Islands and the perception in some quarters that the
 territory is much better endowed materially than most of its Commonwealth Caribbean
 neighbors. Even in present day circumstances, a reaching out to the latter has begun
 in the Virgin Islands. But such a development would not fully fructify unless and until
 there is a fundamental alteration of the territory's status. Even more important in this
 respect is the potential impact of such contact on constitutional and political practice in
 the Virgin Islands. In this respect, it is unlikely that the latter could interface with the
 states of the Commonwealth and not be influenced by their political practices, and vice
 versa.

 Finally, by way of illustrating the sensitivity of the drafters to problems, which
may be regarded as particular to the circumstances of the Virgin Islands, attention may
be drawn to articles of the draft constitution relating to a system of local government.
This is a matter of major concern, primarily to the residents of St. Croix who are keen to
have their island enjoy a greater measure of autonomy, and responsive government.
A matter which received a boost in light of experience with Hurricane Hugo, and has
engaged the attention of the courts, it is to be expected that the issue of greater