- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 19/Jul 02:49

Guevarro’s SoE

THE FIRST official to address the nation on the state of emergency (SoE) was not the Prime Minister. It was not Attorney General John Jeremie. It was not even Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander or Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge. It was Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro. That suggests this is, uniquely, Mr Guevarro’s SoE. The top cop takes full ownership: at his July 18 media conference transmitted live on state broadcaster TTT, he told the country he was the one who made the recommendation. While police input was key to previous emergencies, including the one called in December, this is the most prominent role played by a modern commissioner in the invocation of extraordinary constitutional powers. Erla Harewood-Christopher was not the initial face of the PNM’s SoE, announced by Stuart Young and Fitzgerald Hinds. Dwayne Gibbs was, famously, out of the country when Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced her first SoE in 2011. This time around, though the PM issued remarks in writing, her government largely deferred to Mr Guevarro. Mr Jeremie, appearing at a brief media conference, said he had advised against her hosting one and added, “The government endorses the action of the police.” Calling an emergency is, nonetheless, not a police matter alone, given the political implications and the role that the executive must play. It is not only that the Cabinet must direct President’s House to issue a proclamation. It is for the Parliament, which has risen, to extend the SoE in emergency session if required. Already, there are those who have questioned whether the move is a gimmick or a response to a genuine threat, as outlined by Mr Guevarro. Mr Jeremie and the government maintain it is the latter, with the AG saying given the intelligence presented, “we were left with no choice” and “we make no apologies.” Not only has Mr Guevarro, a former Special Branch officer, taken ownership, but he went beyond all predecessors in supplying extraordinary details through an astonishing early morning statement issued by his communications department. That statement chillingly disclosed plotters behind bars and elsewhere had achieved “an operational capability that exceeds the containment capacity of conventional law enforcement measures.” Which begs the question: can the population have faith in this SoE? What has changed since the last one, besides the government and the commissioner? Why don’t cell jammers work? As much as a specific plot appears disrupted – and any disruption should be celebrated – we will judge and hold the top cop, in office for just one month, accountable for how this measure unfolds. With the government planning reforms in the next parliamentary term, their necessary deference to him, amid a gruesome wave of femicide and kidnappings, buys time and cover. But not for long. The post Guevarro’s SoE appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.