- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 19/Jul 02:48

Analyst: Government must explain SoE in Parliament

POLITICAL analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath expects the Government to explain more fully the details of the state of emergency (SoE) which was declared on July 18 in a notice by President Christine Kangaloo, issued under the TT Constitution (section 8). The SoE declaration came after an earlier police statement alleging that an amalgamation of criminal gangs had compiled a hit-list of certain public officials. Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro then held a news briefing, after which Attorney General John Jeremie also addressed reporters. Ragoonath said he was abroad and so did not have full details of developments, but consented to give Newsday his initial impressions. He said that after an initial 15 days of an SoE, if needs be the SoE can be extended and this can only be done by going to Parliament to get approval. "That means Parliament will have to be reconvened, in 15 days time. That is another twist. "The Parliament is currently on recess and they are not supposed to meet until September, but this (SoE) will mean that they will have to meet before September, in 15 days time." Newsday asked if SoEs in general were likely to have any negative impact on a country's international image, or whether other countries would be glad the country was addressing its perceived problems. Ragoonath said, "Well, I don't know the full story. SoEs do have an impact. Foreign governments would normally issue statements – travel advisories – and so on. "But beyond that, we really will have to wait and see how the government explains it in the Parliament. "I have heard there is no curfew or anything like that, which more or less reflects the same type of SoE we had under the PNM a few months ago." The Constitution in section 9 set out the process for MPs to consider the SoE declaration. "Within three days of the making of the proclamation, the President shall deliver to the Speaker for presentation to the House of Representatives a statement setting out the specific grounds on which the decision to declare the existence of a state of public emergency was based, and a date shall be fixed for a debate on this statement as soon as practicable but in any event not later than fifteen days from the date of the proclamation." This section said the President's SoE proclamation will remain in force for 15 days, unless previously revoked, The Constitution (section 10) added, "Before its expiration the proclamation may be extended from time to time by resolution supported by a simple majority vote of the House of Representatives, so, however, that no extension exceeds three months and the extensions do not in the aggregate exceed six months." An SoE may be revoked at any time by a resolution backed by a simple majority vote of the House, the Constitution added. The post Analyst: Government must explain SoE in Parliament appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.