Opposition Leader: Why call SoE now?

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has asked why the government called the state of emergency (SoE) in December 2024 rather than in January 2024, when she called for one. She said lives could have been saved if it had been called earlier.

She was speaking during the debate in the House of Representatives on January 13 on whether the Parliament should accept the statement made by President Christine Kangaloo under section 9(1) of the Constitution on the reasons why a decision was made to call the SoE.

Persad-Bissessar noted the President’s statement quoted two examples of violence: an attempt on the life of suspected gang leader Calvin Lee and an attack at Prizgar Lands, Laventille, which left five people dead.

She noted the President said the police service informed the Minister of National Security there could be gang reprisals using automatic weapons.

“So here we are, with 600-plus murders on that day just before what we call Old Year’s Night, the Cabinet decided, ‘Look, too much is too much.’

"Why then? Is it that only because certain people, one gang fighting another gang? Was it done to protect the gang members, or was it done to protect the people of Trinidad and Tobago? Because the PM did refer to those incidents. Was it the last bomb? They flew off and said, 'We have to get serious and do something'?”

Persad-Bissessar said during the media conference held on December 30 by acting Attorney General Stuart Young and National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, she felt the two men were contradicting each other.

“One minister said, went through all the statistics on horrendous crime, numbers and so on, and the other minister was, ‘No, no, this is about gangs and reprisals, gangs and reprisals, not all of these hundreds of people murdered this year or last year, it’s about the reprisals by the gangs’ that woke them up.

"So which one is real? I don’t see this statement from the President being in sync with what we’re being told.”

Persad-Bissessar quoted from the Court of Appeal judgement in the case of Earl Elie vs the Attorney General, in which Elie sued the state after the 2011 SoE. She said the court took the views of the President and ministers into account when determining whether a SoE should be called. She said based on the contradictions she saw, she thought the courts would strike down the SoE.

AG Reginald Armour called on the Opposition Leader to read the judgment correctly. He quoted several sections of the it which said the calling of the SoE was justified and great weight was to be given to the judgement of the executive.

“That is the significance of section 75 of the Constitution advising her Excellency at 1 am on December 30 of the circumstances which prompted her Excellency, in her discretion, to proclaim the existence of a period of national emergency, and why we are now here to scrupulously look at what she says in that statement to appreciate why we should endorse and validate that statement.

“The Leader of the Opposition did not read that part.

"We must be true to our oaths as members of the inner bar, whatever one may want to do or say as politicians serving other interests. If you are reading a judgment, read the judgment properly.”

Armour said Persad-Bissessar’s comment about protecting one gang or another was extremely irresponsible. He said public order requires trust in government to govern and that it move swiftly and decisively to protect the population.

The Prime Minister said while Persad-Bissessar said the SoE has not had an effect, there was a reduction in the number of murders in 2011 when a SoE was called to deal with crime.

“We have gotten a significant benefit from the SoE, but it’s not down to zero.

"I will waste no more time trying to convince those opposite to do their jobs. The criminals know as long as we keep pointing fingers at each other and see them as victims, they have the edge.”

He said he did not agree with her statement that Hinds and Young were contradicting each other as they were giving statistics and the laws under which the SoE would run.

Dr Rowley said Persad-Bissessar did not give an affidavit to the Court of Appeal in the Elie case, and this was part of the reason the court awarded the appellants.

The Parliament accepted the President’s statement as to why a decision was made to call the SoE.