The small circular plaster adorning former Prime Minister Patrick Manning's left temple did not arise from the "jamming" which he received from National Security Minister John Sandy and other PP members during yesterday's House of Representatives debate. Manning, who arrived in Parliament sporting the plaster, is yet say whether the "accessory" was politically or shaving-related. Though Manning fielded various curious glances, PP's Vernella Alleyene-Toppin in a shalwar-apparently still celebrating Eid-gave him a run for the money in terms of attention. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, however, sported dark gray and the mood in the House for the weighty debate on T&T's state of emergency (SoE) was similarly sombre.
(Indeed, union leaders watching proceedings from the public gallery were also in white.) On this first day following the two-month parliamentary break, MPs were not sharing any hand-shaking "welcome backs" or chatter. Their desks, though, had been painted and refurbished. "Place looking new..." PP's Winston Dookeran's observation was one of the few casual re-marks. In the SoE climate, if anyone was waiting for Sandy to divulge more details on the reasons for the initiative, they may have waited in vain. Sandy had not stated the reason for the emergency, as far as Opposition Leader Keith Rowley was concerned.
And on Sandy's claim that the SoE had restored family life, Rowley growled, "Speak for yourself..." Rumblings ensued on both political sides as speakers talked. "Hypocrisy...!" mumbled PP MPs as Sandy trashed the past administration on its treatment of crime. "Shame, shame!" grumbled PNMites when Rowley observed that Government is seeking patrol vessels much like the abandoned OPVs. When Rowley spoke, however, the PP response was such that House Speaker Wade Mark was compelled to offer a "lunch break" to anyone who continued interrupting the PNM leader.
Government would have expected that the clamour for details would have risen commensurate with the continuation of the SoE and what it has uncovered so far. Midway into the exercise when the number of guns found remained at a low 15-and with Sandy's publicly expressed dissatisfaction about this, Government started "blitzing" radio and television with information on the SoE, seeking to justify the results and defend the initiative. Such moves included Sandy and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan's view that the SoE has been "an unqualified success."
At the same time Government seemed compelled to have Sandy make it clear that he was the person responsible for asking for the SoE-clearing National Security Council chairman Persad-Bissessar on that score. Yesterday Sandy revealed he had contacted the PM to seek the SoE on August 21-the same day that the the SoE was announced-after receiving intelligence information. The situation will raise further questions of what exactly could have caused the need for an SoE to be instituted the same day it was sought.
The President's statement and Government's official reason for the SoE is that there were concerns about citizens being affected in gang warfare expected from a $22 million drug bust of August 16. Sandy, however, had apparently been leaning towards an SoE for some time. At a July 15 media briefing, Sandy was asked if Government was considering an SoE or gun amnesty for Port-of-Span and environs in view of spiralling crime. Sandy said: "Yes, we have some strategies which have been discussed and not yet decided upon... I will refrain from saying what they are for the moment."
Sandy's concerns about the number of guns found are well founded since that figure-and the number of convictions in court cases-may be among key indicators of the SoE's success. Hence the need for an extended SoE. Government, by virtue of the move towards an SoE-no small initiative-would be cognisant of the fact that it has to produce some "big fish" among those netted in order to justify the situation and confirm it as a success. Jamaica resorted to a limited state of emergency last year to rein in its deep crime problem stemming from criminal gangs with historical links to politicians. In an interview with the TG in Jamaica last July, Jamaican National Security Minister Dwight Nelson warned T&T authorities not to allow gangs to become embedded as Jamaica's.
Nelson had urged, "There's only one way to deal with it, you can't put on the velvet glove-you have to go after them. It hurts but ultimately you'll be better off for it." Government has apparently taken Jamaica's advice, and it remains to unfold how much the move will impact on T&T, which has a different culture to Jamaica's. Another indicator of the SoE's success may lie in the form of incidents such as Tuesday's discovery of two guns and 375 rounds of ammunition abandoned in a lunch bag at a remote Caroni site.
It remains to be seen if the intensity and "pressure" of SoE conditions and operations in force, which apparently triggered people unknown to dump the items, will continue to help the SoE bear fruit. The discipline and various exemplary performances of the exercise have literally "showed what police can do" (and military). Such forces may be constrained to maintain the high level of performance after the SoE in order to retain credibility. Some PP officials feel the forces should also take out of this exercise their recent collaborative effort, particularly in intelligence sharing. But they acknowledge that sustained success post-SoE would require full-fledged transformation of the Police Service.
More immediately, however, post-SoE contingencies may have to include where the very real threat of retaliation is concerned, as well as the curbing of a new status quo which will obviously spring up in the crime business to replace those "employees" now detained. A plus on the Government side, PP sources say, has been that the SoE exercise appears to have united the Partnership. UNC chairman Jack Warner, still holding a frontline seat despite a slashed portfolio, yesterday maintained his standing as Government's foremost warrior against the Opposition. Despite his rumblings of recent weeks prior to the SoE, Warner came out with guns (and props) blazing on Government's behalf during yesterday's debate.
His Chaguanas West constituency is among the six "hot-spot" districts under curfew, along with the COP's Arima seat and four Opposition PNM seats in Port-of-Spain, Diego Martin, San Juan/Laventille and San Fernando. The second week of the SoE however brought with it a surprising call from PP partner, the Motion for Social Justice (MSJ), for the Government to discuss with its partners the SoE and various concerns therein. When the SoE was announced on August 21 by Persad-Bissessar (with Dookeran at her side and Warner way to the back), it had been assumed that such dialogue had taken place with partners and there had been consensus.
MSJ's release, however, seemed to signal that no such thing had happened beyond Cabinet level. Or at least to MSJ's satisfaction. Even more surprising was that MSJ leader Errol McLeod subsequently appeared at the post-Cabinet media briefing to say he had indeed been part of consultations on the issue-signalling that the disconnect was between himself and his party rather than between the MSJ and other partners. And most recently the COP has expressed concerns about treatment of detainees.
PM to cancel UN trip?
It remains to be seen if within an extended SoE, Persad-Bissessar, who heads T&T's National Security Council, will keep her planned engagement to attend the United National between September 19 and 24. That event had included a forum on non-communicable diseases which Caricom nations were looking forward to. The overall results of the exercise will show whether the anti-gang legislation, rather than a SoE, would have better suited the situation.
It remains to be seen how deep the economic effects of the SoE will run and what impact it could have on the contents of the upcoming budget, expected later this month. This, considering that the US recession has deepened. In addition, the accumulated political price on the 15-month-old Government will also be determined down the line. While the families of affected people in the SoE have been crying foul on the Government, these have been mainly in the Opposition areas where the "hot spots" are located. Still, the situation has also arisen at an inopportune time regarding other aspects of internal UNC operations.
The Bangladesh community in UNC's Joseph constituency is already up in arms over the security forces' recent exercise there and residents have vowed that the UNC stronghold will not stand as such anymore. But Bangladesh's encounter with security forces may occupy second string on the party's side since there are already some tensions in UNC's St Joseph executive following replacement of certain top officials there, St Joseph MP Herbert Volney confirmed. On Tuesday, contacted about the Bangladesh residents' vow, Volney said he had already been expecting a protest of some sort that day following a disclaimer advertisement issued by his unit concerning certain executive officials.
Volney said:
"I've cleaned the stables and I know some sort of protest was being planned and I hope security forces do not pick people up since protests and assemblies aren't allowed during an SoE. "We've had a change in the political administration of the constituency since former managers and staff members were acting in way that were inimical to the interest of good governance and they're coercing protests."
Volney said he'd learned that some protest against him had been brewing and that a "maxi-load" of people had planned to go to UNC's Rienzi Complex "behind his back." Contacted about the issue on Tuesday, St Joseph chairman Horace Maharaj said he was not aware of the advertisement. Maharaj added: "I don't know of anyone acting 'inimical' to good governance or the party interest. If you disagree with someone, they always figure you're against them. That's the nature of politics." Former St Joseph chairman Dev Ramsingh did not reply to repeated calls.
PNM performs amid rumour
For a while prior to yesterday's House debate on the SoE, it appeared that contributors might have only been Rowley, Manning and chief whip Marlene McDonald. With a full Government side early in evidence, several PNM MPs however were late and PoS North's Pat McIntosh (in Barbados) absent. The late PNM arrivals might have appeared curious, especially since the Opposition sailed into yesterday's debate with the shadow of a negative rumour overhead.
On the eve of debate on Thursday, text messages had spread about an alleged "coup" in the PNM and that some MPS were seeking to replace Rowley as leader. MPs who attended PNM's caucus on Thursday dispelled the rumour, but acknowledged hearing it. Ahead of debate yesterday, Manning went over to speak with Rowley briefly and the former party leader sat attentively looking in Rowley's direction as the latter spoke. PNM members including Donna Cox, Amery Browne and Fitzgerald Hinds have been assisting constituents seeking help in SoE issues.