Three political parties are questioning how the UNC could campaign on promises to fight crime, only to now adopt what they describe as old and failed PNM tactics—specifically the declaration of a State of Emergency (SoE).
Patriotic Front political leader Mickela Panday strongly criticised the SoE, arguing that it is neither a crime plan nor a cure.
Panday said, “The citizens of this country deserve safety, not speeches. They deserve action, not excuses. And they deserve a government with the vision and courage to lead, not just repeat.”
She described the SoE as a mere “circuit breaker” that fails to address the root causes of crime.
“Without serious reforms, prison oversight, anti-corruption crackdowns, youth intervention, and real gun control, this will continue to be our reality—more fear, more headlines, and no way forward,” Panday contended.
She acknowledged that an SoE can be a tactical tool for disrupting immediate threats, relocating inmates, and facilitating raids, but argued it is not a long-term solution.
“It offers no comfort to the countless families across the country who live in daily fear. If you campaign on crime, the people expect action, not fearmongering and empty promises,” she added.
Meanwhile, the All People’s Party (APP), led by Kezel Jackson, described the SoE as “another plaster again.”
Jackson told Guardian Media, “Everybody’s trying to put a plaster onto the wound, but the wound runs deeper than the surface. There are a lot of socio-psychological factors that are the breeding ground of these criminalistic activities, but we need to take the bull by the horn. Everybody wants to take the bull by the neck. So you see this as just a plaster—as you said, a short-term stopgap measure.”
She likened the government’s approach to treating crime as if it were a mosquito infestation.
“But you leave all the areas where water accumulating, so then you’ll come and spray again, right? A next company wants to come back and spray again.”
The National Transformation Alliance (NTA) also criticised the move, calling the SoE a last-resort reaction that lacks “foresight and transparency.”
Interim political leader Lieutenant Commander Norman Dindial told Guardian Media the SoE shows that “the current administration is out of new ideas at this critical stage, and instead of providing proactive policies and real crime prevention solutions—something that was promised to the population once they got into office—they have resorted to this.”