[UPDATED] Government seeks to extend state of emergency by 3 months

THE Prime Minister will next Wednesday ask the House of Representatives to extend the state of emergency (SoE) for three more months (until late November), said the House order paper.

As a measure to help combat the covid19 pandemic, at a media briefing Dr Rowley had declared the first period of the SoE on May 15, to run until May 30.

On May 24, Parliament met to extend the SoE for three more months up to August 29.

The extension needs just a simple majority, Newsday was told on Thursday by both Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis and Opposition chief whip David Lee.

Indeed the motion says the Constitution (section 10) says the proclamation of an SoE may be extended from time to time "by a simple majority vote of the House."

Repeated extensions may run up to six months in sum, said the motion.

Lee said that after six months, any further extension would need Opposition support.

Both Lee and Robinson-Regis told Newsday the current period of the SoE runs up to August 29, next weekend Sunday.

Robinson-Regis said any extension approved on Wednesday would run until "the end of November."

Lee said he had only just heard of the proposed extension and he expected the Opposition to meet in caucus, probably over the weekend, to discuss it and then put out a statement.

In an initial personal reaction, he saw an inconsistency in re-opening TT's borders while continuing a SoE and curfew. He reasoned that foreign tourists and visiting businessmen would be unlikely to be drawn to TT if they had to be shut in their hotel rooms from 9 pm nightly.

"Personally, I don't see the rationale for it (an extended SoE) because public health regulations can curb movement. Last year in the height of the pandemic there was no SoE.

"Keeping the curfew, even if you lift the hours to 11 pm, still affects businesses and the economy of TT."

He said a curfew was very costly for international airlines and their passengers coming to TT. "That's why those airlines have not started to come back to TT. If you want to open the country, you have to lift the curfew." Lee said any scenario of TT having an SoE but not a curfew would still curtail citizens rights and would make no sense.

TT Chamber of Commerce CEO Gabriel Faria told Newsday he was not yet ready to comment, as he was waiting to get the specifics of what the Government was proposing, such as whether they intended to change the curfew. He said chamber members will discuss it on Friday. "The chamber has seen the news and we look forward to understanding what the actual plans are by the Government. We haven't seen anything specific." Meanwhile Faria urged all to get vaccinated against covid19, to help TT get over these tough times.

NATUC head Michael Annisette told Newsday, "I would be interested to hear the rationale behind the extension, before any informed comment can be made." This was especially so, he said, because an SoE takes away fundamental human rights. Annisette mulled aloud why would an SoE be extended just after the Government's re-opening of retail outlets, the latter which would have suggested that things were going pretty okay. "But I can't make an informed comment before I hear the rationale."

Speculation ran rife on Thursday that Rowley hold a televised news briefing this Saturday to address the issue.

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

THE Prime Minister will ask Parliament next Wednesday to extend the state of emergency (SoE) for three more months.
This was reflected in the order paper for the House of Representatives, which will sit on that day at 1.30 pm.

As a measure to help combat the covid19 pandemic, the first period of the SoE was declared on May 15 and was then  extended on May 24 for three more months. It is due to last until month-end.

Once the total length of the extension of the SOE is more than six months, Section 10 (1) of the Constitution says an SoE "may be further extended from time to time for not more than three months at any one time, by a resolution passed by both Houses of Parliament and supported by the votes of not less than three-fifths of all the members of each House." Otherwise only a simple majority is needed.