UNC: Do not trust PM on SoE extension

The United National Congress (UNC) said the country should not trust the Prime Minister when he says that he has no intention of asking the Parliament to extend the current state of emergency (SoE).

The Opposition made the comment at its weekly Sunday press conference at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Charles Street, Port of Spain.

At a press conference on Saturday, Dr Rowley said the SoE is expected to be lifted by November 29 and the 10 pm-5 am curfew will also no longer be in effect.

He said, “As of now I don’t have any intention of asking the Parliament to extend it.”

Opposition senator Wade Mark and Opposition MP for Couva South Rudranath Indarsingh spoke at the conference.

Mark also questioned three of the nominees submitted for the Police Service Commission (PSC). Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar also questioned the submission of some of the names in October.

The submitted list of nominees will be debated in the House of Representatives this Wednesday.

On the matter of the SoE, Mark said, “The state of emergency being lifted, I want to remind this country, do not trust the Prime Minister.  He has a forked tongue.”

Mark said Dr Rowley speaks on both sides of his mouth.

“Remember when he told us Petrotrin is not closing down. And if you are closing your fridge and you did not hear me, ‘Petrotrin is not closing down.’ Well, he destroyed Petrotrin.”

Mark said the SoE comes to an end on November 29 and that Dr Rowley is now saying he is not going to seek to have an extension.

“But you know he can come back a week later and declare a second SoE? He can do that. So you can’t trust this Prime Minister. So we await to see if his word has any meaning or if we was just again mamaguying the population.”

Newsday tried to contact Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi for a response but was unsuccessful.