Op­po­si­tion Leader Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar says even as this coun­try cel­e­brates its 41st an­niver­sary as a Re­pub­lic, un­der the cur­rent ad­min­is­tra­tion, T&T had seen no move­ment to­wards im­prov­ing pub­lic in­sti­tu­tions for the ben­e­fit of the peo­ple.

In her Re­pub­lic Day mes­sage, Per­sad-Biss­esar said the cur­rent ap­proach to gov­er­nance is au­thor­i­tar­i­an and cit­i­zens feel ex­clud­ed and de­mor­al­ized.

“We are see­ing crime spi­ralling at an alarm­ing rate, with cit­i­zens liv­ing in fear as they go about their dai­ly ac­tiv­i­ties. Our econ­o­my is in a down­ward spi­ral, with thou­sands hav­ing lost their jobs since this Gov­ern­ment took of­fice,” she said.

Per­sad-Bisses­sar said in­vest­ment was dry­ing up, and busi­ness peo­ple are fac­ing tough fi­nan­cial cir­cum­stances.

“In all this, I want to re­mind the peo­ple of this coun­try of the im­por­tance of our Re­pub­li­can sta­tus—the pow­er lies in your hands. It is up to each of us to work to­geth­er to bring about pos­i­tive change in our so­ci­ety.”

She said al­though we are a young Re­pub­lic, T&T has made sig­nif­i­cant progress in build­ing a democ­ra­cy and pub­lic in­sti­tu­tions to serve the in­ter­ests of the peo­ple.

“As a Par­lia­men­tar­i­an and a cit­i­zen, I will con­tin­ue to work to­wards serv­ing the peo­ple of this coun­try, and I main­tain my call for all cit­i­zens to join with me and my team as we seek to con­tin­ue to build our na­tion, and to build a brighter fu­ture for us all.”

Per­sad-Bisses­sar said cit­i­zens must con­tin­ue to work to pro­tect hard-won free­doms, and de­mand lead­ers take their re­spon­si­bil­i­ties se­ri­ous­ly, and work in the in­ter­est of all cit­i­zens.

“It can­not be that those hold­ing high of­fice seek the in­ter­ests of a few while ig­nor­ing the needs of the ma­jor­i­ty. The peo­ple of Trinidad and To­ba­go de­serve more, and I call on all right-think­ing cit­i­zens to stand up for your rights and let your voic­es be heard. I will stand with you as we seek to fur­ther the de­vel­op­ment of our na­tion.”