- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 28/Jul 07:01

PM: UNC will not fail Trinidad and Tobago

PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has promised the UNC will not fail Trinidad and Tobago. She made those comments shortly after being nominated unopposed and being re-elected as UNC political leader at the party's headquarters in Chaguanas on July 27. Her comments come ahead of extraordinary sittings of the House of Representatives and the Senate on July 28 and 29 respectively. The House will sit on July 28 to debate motions on the reasons for declaring a state of emergency (SoE) on July 17 and extend it for a further three months. With 26 seats in the House, the UNC is certain to pass both motions. Once the House approves the motions, government will debate a second motion to amend the Prison Act to designate certain locations as prisons. Government's 26 seat majority will ensure passage of that motion as well. Under the Constitution, a SoE can be declared for 15 days without parliamentary approval. At the end of this period, only the House has the power to extend the SoE by a further three months. Any further extensions will require the permission of the House and the Senate. This is why the Senate will not debate any motion to extend the SoE when it sits on July 29. Minutes after being nominated unopposed and being declared UNC leader again, Persad-Bissessar promised to strengthen democracy within the party on several levels. "The baton will be passed when that time comes but it is not today." She then made subtle references to the SoE and the two upcoming parliamentary sittings. Persad-Bissessar reminded UNC supporters about "the dire socio-economic mess" which the party inherited from the former PNM administration. "Hard times for our citizens...escalating crime wave...organised crime networks...hardening and stunted economy." [caption id="attachment_1168817" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar makes her way through a crowd of UNC supporters gathered at the party's headquarters in Chaguanas on July 27.[/caption] At a separate news conference on July 18, Commissioner of Police (CoP) Allister Guevarro and Attorney General John Jeremie said the SoE was declared because of the threat posed by an organised crime syndicate operating inside and outside of the prison, threatening the lives of ordinary citizens, members of the justice system and law enforcement officers. The two SoE motions which the House will debate on July 28 are filed in Jeremie's name. Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles described the declaration of the SoE as evidence the UNC has no crime plan and has waved a white flag of surrender early in its tenure in government. Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley recalled Persad-Bissessar's description of a SoE as a gimmick when the former PNM government declared one last December to respond to a security threat at that time. The motion to designate certain areas as prisons, which will be debated in the House on July 28 and in the Senate on July 29, are filed in Homeland Security Roger Alexander's name. This motion relates to decisions taken during the SoE to relocate prisoners from the Maximum Security Prison (MSP) in Arouca to TT Regiment headquarters at Teteron Barracks and the Coast Guard's main base at Staubles Bay on claims that security has been compromised at the prisons. The issue has caused the Prison Officers Association to defend the integrity of its officers in response to these claims. Former police commissioner and national security minister Gary Griffith has also criticised the decision to relocate inmates from Arouca to Teteron Barracks and Staubles Bay as akin "to trying to form a Guantanamo Bay in TT to deal with prisoners." Guantanamo Bay is a US naval base built in the southern part of Cuba in 1898. A detention camp was built there in 2002 to hold terrorism suspects and "illegal enemy combatants" during the "war on terror" following the September 11, 2001, attack in the US. Griffith said the move to put prisoners there "has given the impression we have caved in...we have given up and we have not been able to secure the prisons." The motion to amend the Prisons Act also has connections to links to a recent High Court judgement which rejected the effort of a group of high-risk prisoners to reverse a decision to remove them from the MSP to Teteron Barracks. The judgment was linked to legal notices 240 and 241, signed by Alexander to approve Teteron Barracks and Staubles Bay as detention facilities under the Act. On July 27, Persad-Bissessar told UNC supporters, "Our nation is fragile after what we inherited from the previous regime." She warned the UNC could not afford to fail as the government. [caption id="attachment_1168815" align="alignnone" width="683"] Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar shows her receipt after filing nomination papers at UNC Headquarters, Chaguanas on July 27.[/caption] "If we fail in our governance, freedom narrows. If we falter, cynicism wins. If we fracture, our nation will bleed." Persad-Bissessar promised her administration would not fail on any front. "But if we stand firm, if we act boldly and we love TT more than we fear the cost of change, victory will be ours and we will be worthy of that victory." Persad-Bissessar said the UNC's victories in the May 24, 2010 and April 28 general elections were a case of history repeating itself. The UNC-led People's Partnership won the former 29-12 and the UNC-led Coalition of Interests won the latter 26-13-2. She said, "Ten years our country has been brought to its knees and lower than its knees." Persad-Bissessar repeated her thanks to the electorate for giving the UNC a special majority in Parliament once again. She promised government would use that majority to "display disciplined leadership, principles policy, credible plan to rescue and rebuild our beloved land." Persad-Bissessar repeated. "Our plan is to rescue and rebuild TT." She said, "Leadership is hardest when institutions wobble and and struggle and there are so many things collapsing around us." But Persad-Bissessar reminded the population, "Do not fear because Kamla is here." She promised, "We did it before... we will do it again and we will do it better because now we have experience." I am proud of my record. I have never given up to political blackmail or fear. Persad-Bissessar said, "Under my leadership, whether in government or in opposition, we matched competence with compassion always." She added citizens could expect the UNC to uphold the law and their liberty. "The rule of law is the shield of the weak and the restraint of the powerful dictators." Persad-Bissessar said, "Under my leadership, the UNC has shown a nation how to move forward toward that light." She added the people knew that when three months ago, they gave the UNC "an overwhelming mandate to govern our beloved country." Persad-Bissessar said citizens were well aware of her track record of equality, justice and humanity in public life. Referring to the time gap between her first tenure as prime minister in 2010 to the start of her second term now, Persad-Bissessar said, "After 15 years it is time to move forward together. Let us do this altogether." She assured the population she would not yield or break under whatever challenges her government would face. "I am proud of my record. I have never given up to political blackmail or fear. Under my leadership, whether in government or in opposition, we matched competence with compassion always." Persad-Bissessar repeated her thanks to everyone who supported her as prime minister and UNC leader. "Half of my heart belongs to you and the other half I gift you again."   The post PM: UNC will not fail Trinidad and Tobago appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.