00:00Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdullah says calling the zones of special operations legislation a law reform bill is deceptive, as according to him, it is part of the constitution that is being amended.
00:13He states that a zones bill, while creating longer states of emergency within selected communities, does not require the stringent measures that must be fulfilled for an SOE to be called, such as the proclamation by the president.
00:27This zones of special operations doesn't have that protection. It's simply the prime minister deciding. And there is no provision for parliamentary debate. The parliament is simply informed. And it is for six months, whereas initially a state of emergency is for 15 days and then parliament could extend that for three months.
00:51While any further extension must get approval from both houses of parliament, Abdullah notes that the zones of special operation can be extended by a statement by the prime minister or national security minister, despite what he calls a heavy infringement on citizens' rights.
01:07And therefore, in our view, ought to have had time for public consultation, perhaps even being sent to a joint select committee of parliament, instead of being rushed with obscene haste through the House and then now into the Senate.
01:23So as this bill goes before the Senate today, Mr. Abdullah, what would you like to see?
01:26I hope the Senate will not pass it. If it is not significantly amended by the Senate, which I doubt it will be, but I hope it is not passed, and that the government withdraws. If it doesn't pass, then it will have to be withdrawn. It can be retabled for, I think, three months.
01:45But more than that, he says, because of the serious implications within the bill, the provisions under an SOE should apply, such as the three-month time span, the need for parliamentary approval for the first extension, and a three-fifths majority for a further extension.
02:03Abdullah also takes umbrage with what he calls an attack by Prime Minister Kamala-Passad-Bissassam on independent senators.
02:09The president said, well, she doesn't expect that they will do anything other than support the PNM because they were appointed by the president, who was a former PNM person. That's not good governance. That's not good governance at all.
02:22The MSJ notes with concern the provision for joint force heads deciding upon which areas should be cordoned off and subjected to curfews.
02:30And therefore, people can't enter or leave those areas within that time. Those are very extreme restrictions on the rights of citizens.
02:40Abdullah believes it is something that should be determined by civilian officials, such as the Prime Minister.
02:47The MSJ calls the legislation a crime suppression measure instead of a crime-solving mechanism.
02:52While the TTPS reports a 42 percent decrease in homicides in 2025 when compared to 2024, Abdullah isn't sure if it is as a result of the SOE.
03:03In this regard, he mentions an absence of data such as the number of people charged and before the courts due to the SOE.
03:11And therefore, we have no concrete evidence that gangs have in fact been dismantled and that their operations have been disrupted.
03:24They may be disrupted temporarily if some people are in detention under the state of emergency. What happens when they're released?
03:31Abdullah is also of the view that instead of the government setting up committees to look at the social conditions of certain communities,
03:38it should look into the numerous reports done over the years, comprising this information and recommendations.
03:45He says the government should begin acting towards implementation of the various recommendations made in those reports.
03:53Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
