Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 01/Jan 05:55

SoE means government has given up

THE EDITOR: What is an SoE (state of emergency) without a curfew? Why was Stuart Young chairing that press conference? I could understand Young not letting Fitzgerald Hinds talk, but where was PM Rowley or the Attorney General? Can a general election be called during an SoE? I suspect, just like during covid19, the government will use the police service to stifle campaigning. Why now, though? Crime was never a concern for PNM. So, there must be more to this move that meets the eye. The Defence Force doesn't have any maxis – it didn't have any during the Independence Day parade – so how is it going to get suspects to and fro? The Coast Guard doesn't have any vessels, so how is it going to secure the border? The fire service doesn't have appliances and apparatus, so how is it going to respond to emergencies during the SoE? The police and the army will have their hands tied. If the excuse for the SoE is because of crime or impending danger, then it means the government has given up the crime fight. That was the verdict when Kamla Persad-Bissessar called it in 2011, so it applies to the PP too. The government has given up, it has thrown in the towel, now brace for the long list of lawsuits by disgruntled citizens, and more cases to be won by UNC lawyers, so that the PNM can say the UNC is profiting from crime. I wonder if people will say during or at the end of this saga in the nation's history that Rowley only locked up a certain race of people? That was the conclusion by many when Persad-Bissessar did it. Time will tell. I reckon the toy guns frightened the police and the PNM, so that's why the government called an SoE. Nothing surprises me with these folks any more. PNM sure to find a way to screw this up. KENDELL KARAN Chaguanas The post SoE means government has given up appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.