UNC silent on anti-gang legislation support in House

THE Opposition UNC was silent on Wednesday on whether its 19 MPs in the House of Representatives will follow the lead of its six senators in voting against the Anti-Gang Bill 2021 when it goes to the House.

The bill was passed in the Senate on Tuesday by a vote of 24 to six. All nine Independent senators joined the 15 Government senators to support the bill's passage.

Unlike its 2020 predecessor which required a three-fifths majority for passage, the bill only needs a simple majority to be passed in both the House and Senate. That equates to 25 votes in the House. The Government and Opposition have 22 and 19 MPs respectively.

Asked whether Opposition MPs would vote against the bill, Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo said, "The UNC is a very disciplined organisation. As we do with every bill that comes to Parliament, we will consult and caucus and determine thereafter.”

Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe agreed with Tancoo. Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said, "Tune in."

In concluding debate on the bill on Tuesday, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi dismissed Opposition senator Anil Roberts' claim that the legislation was "rushed law." He argued that Roberts contradicted himself about the need for the bill when he said "TT was in panic and there was no public order."

Al-Rawi also rejected Opposition senator Jayanti Lutchmedial's claim that he presented "empty statistics" to support his argument of why the legislation was necessary.

Saying those statistics came from the Commissioner of Police (CoP) and the police's Crime and Problem Analysis Branch (CAPA), Al-Rawi declared, "I find it unacceptable that we look at the statistics coming from the CoP and are jaundiced about it."

He told senators it was the commissioner, Gary Griffith, who publicly said because of the police's efforts to suppress criminal gangs in TT "we have had a 58 per cent fall off in gang membership, that we have had a 40 per cent fall off in the number of gangs."

He added, "It was the CAPA analysis that has said we have had the lowest statistical output in 20 years for serious crime."

Unlike previous anti-gang legislation, the bill will require police to have a warrant to enter and search premises and they will only be able to detain people for 48 hours. Al-Rawi said a judge's approval will be needed for longer detentions and attorneys will be able to file writs of habeas corpus to challenge detentions.

The bill states that people who either are members of criminal gangs or choose to join a gang, face a penalty of ten years' imprisonment on first conviction. Should these people be convicted subsequently of this specific offence, they will be sentenced to 20 years in jail.

The legislation also proposes that a gang leader would be liable to imprisonment for 25 years on conviction on indictment.