Senior Political Reporter
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles says the Prime Minister, Commissioner of Police and Attorney General have each presented conflicting narratives surrounding the State of Emergency (SoE), leaving citizens uncertain about its true purpose.
“The contrary and conflicting explanations for this State of Emergency have left the population in an even greater state of confusion,” said Beckles, who is currently out of Trinidad and Tobago, in a statement on the SoE last night.
Beckles said despite the United National Congress’ campaign promise to present a crime solution by April 28, the Government has failed to produce a viable plan to address crime.
“We’re faced with out-of-control crime and an inability to produce a workable plan. The Government has chosen the extreme initiative of a State of Emergency as its first, only, and final strategy to deal with this issue. Unsurprisingly, the Government—bereft of clues and ideas—declared an SoE through the Commissioner in response to what it claims is a coordinated security threat emanating from within Trinidad and Tobago’s prisons.”
While affirming that the safety of the Judiciary, national security personnel, and all citizens must be paramount, Beckles said: “The declaration of emergency powers is the most extreme tool available to any government, and its use must always be scrutinised, justified, and proportionate.”
She continued: “The nation stands bewildered. What lies at the heart of the SoE? The Prime Minister, the Commissioner of Police, and the Attorney General have each presented conflicting narratives.”
Beckles noted that at 9 am yesterday, the CoP said there had been “no uptick in crime,” framing the SoE solely around a single intelligence report he received on July 17 regarding an organised crime syndicate allegedly plotting kidnappings and assassinations.
“Just after midday,” Beckles added, “the Attorney General’s press conference remarks contrasted sharply, anchoring the decision on a surge in homicides, a wider resurgence of gang activity, and an alleged assassination plot originating inside the prison system.”
She said the confusion deepened when, shortly after the Attorney General’s press conference, the Prime Minister issued a written public statement.
“The Prime Minister, contrary as she is known to be, claimed personal initiation—that it was she, not the Commissioner, who ordered immediate action—launching a grandiose, egotistical charade that can only be described as political gimmickry in a desperate attempt at overcompensation for her notorious absences from important fora.”
Beckles described the development as “grotesque and comical,” noting that the same Prime Minister, while serving as opposition leader last December, condemned the then-PNM government’s declaration of an SoE as “shameless political gimmickry.”
“Today, in a stunning reversal, she invokes the same powers—for different and confusing reasons—while offering no clear evidence, no details of the alleged threat, and certainly no crime plan. Is this now the new standard of governance and national security, where panic replaces policy?”
She added, “Trinidad and Tobago is witnessing a Government that has panicked and is hiding behind the TTPS. What we’re seeing isn’t leadership but a galloping slide into authoritarianism—an alarming admission of failure.”
Beckles said the UNC spent nearly a decade in Opposition campaigning with bold promises to “fix crime.”
“That campaign has now defaulted—less than three months later—to the last resort of emergency powers, bypassing both the people and the Parliament.”
Beckles noted that during a public meeting on July 5, she warned that the Government had gone silent on the issue of crime.
