Rowley: Zones of special operations will breed abuse

FORMER prime minister Dr Keith Rowley has disagreed with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar about the Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations-ZOSOs) (Special Security and Community Development Measures) Bill, 2026.

He also criticised Persad-Bissessar and her administration for their approach to advancing the legislation.

Debate on the bill began in the Senate on January 20 and continued on January 21. The Senate will resume the debate on January 23 at 1.30 pm. The House of Representatives passed the bill on January 16.

The bill allows Persad-Bissessar as chair of the National Security Council, in consultation with the Commissioner of Police (CoP) and the TT Defence Force Chief of Staff, to declare certain areas in the country as ZOSOs for a maximum of 180 days.

The bill requires a three-fifth's majority for passage. In the Senate, this equates to 19 votes. Government has 15 senators while the Opposition has six and the Independents have nine.

In a Facebook post on January 22, Rowley noted Persad-Bissessar's criticism of independent senators, claiming they will not support the bill because of alleged ties to the PNM.

He said, "If I had said anything nearly as offensive and arrogant as as what Kamla recently said, everyone in this country would would have known not to accept that from the Prime Minister."

Rowley added, " I am proud of that fact. It confirms to me that I was held to a higher standard and I am satisfied that I met those standards."

He said, "These arguments to justify their dangerous legislation to be promulgated in this uneasy multi-racial, multi-ethnic society is not an appropriate crime-fighting tool."

Rowley added, "To stigmatise communities and removal of the entrenched rights of the law abiding at the behest of officers without parliamentary oversight is not what one expects from a government that is prepared to do its job of going at the lawbreakers without trampling on those who are law abiding."

He said, "Given the divisive politics and the suspicious nature of so many, it may very well turn out that the justification of 'fighting crime' might not be enough to manage the fallout when the law is applied."

Rowley cautioned, "The unsupervised authority will breed abuse and resentment and all that flows."