Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar has accused the government of silencing Opposition Speakers during the Stet of Emergency debate. In a press release issued today, the Opposition Leader said the government opted to avoid answering key questions about their plans for helping citizens to deal with this crisis.
The following is a press release from the Opposition Leader:
Today during the debate on the State of Emergency, the Government at every turn and opportunity sought to silence Opposition speakers as they ran from taking responsibility for the crisis they have created.
In a total contravention of our democracy, the Government opted to avoid answering key questions as to their plans for helping citizens to deal with this crisis.
Opposition Members of Parliament were consistently shut down as they sought to undertake their elected constitutional duties of expressing the burdens our citizens face at this time.
We have heard nothing new from the Government and from the Prime Minister as to how they intend to control the spiralling infection rate. Instead, their only plan remains; blame citizens.
We in the Opposition indicated our support for these measures as they are key to saving lives, but we reserve the right to raise concerns and to hold this Government to account especially when it’s their failures that have brought us to this troubling state of affairs.
It was clear that not even the Prime Minister had a coherent response as to why this nation went from being “Oxford number one” as they erroneously boasted before the general election last year to this state of emergency.
Attempting to silence all critical voices and downplaying public discussion on Covid-19 has always been this Government’s modus operandi from the beginning of the Pandemic when they also silenced any form of discussion on COVID-19 in our Parliament in January 2020.
The Opposition remains committed to working for the people of Trinidad and Tobago in overcoming this pandemic and we will continue to hold the Government to account.