A serious symptom

THE ROBBERY, at gunpoint, of a government minister and MP in broad daylight is a serious matter. We express relief that Minister of Health and St Joseph MP Terrence Deyalsingh escaped largely unscathed from the incident within his constituency on September 17. Had bandits fired shots, they might have made off with more than just a bracelet.

We also note reports, which emerged less than 24 hours later, of individuals being taken into custody to assist police with investigations. We express hope the law will swiftly take its course, as should be the case in every crime. For this to occur, there must be continued co-operation between the public and the police.

Swift action has led some to question whether the same would occur in relation to any other. That is a concern many are entitled to air. However, the question of privileged treatment would be a matter for the police, not the minister.

In fact, Mr Deyalsingh’s ordeal points to the fact that those who offer themselves for public office do so at great personal cost.

The nature of politics – in this country and the world – is adversarial. It is not unforeseeable that officials will face threats, whether through elaborate assassination plots like those that have long embroiled US politics or mere crimes of opportunity.

Local politicians have been harmed by criminals before.

The 1990 terror attack on the State by the Jamaat al Muslimeen saw prime minister ANR Robinson shot in the knee as parliamentarians and others were held hostage. MP Leo Des Vignes died.

Such atrocities have not recurred, mercifully, in our history, but over the years ministers have fallen prey to other crimes.

In 2013, there was a reported break-in at the home of Colm Imbert, then a PNM MP. After becoming Minister of Finance, Mr Imbert’s son was robbed in 2018.

That year, a man was also fined for splashing water and thereby assaulting Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds.

There was a hostage scare involving a UNC MP earlier this year and a reported assassination plot against UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, then PM, back in 2011.

PM Rowley, too, has faced threats.

At this time, questions can reasonably be asked about the protection afforded to all.

What is not needed is overheated rhetoric.

Former commissioner of police and current politician Gary Griffith’s statement that he will soon replace Mr Deyalsingh and “make St Joseph safe again,” is not only a disappointing echo of rhetoric elsewhere, it fails to get to the root of the issue.

For, what citizens need is for crime to be contained no matter who sits in Parliament.

Mr Deyalsingh’s robbery is but the latest serious symptom of the need for politics to be removed from crime-fighting altogether.