00:00Government MP for KUVA South Barry Pedaroff says the failure of the
00:05zones of special operations bill in the Senate represents what he describes
00:10as a dark and shameful moment in the country's history. In a media release
00:15issued on Thursday, Pedaroff said the government stands firmly with the Prime
00:18Minister Kamala Pesan.
00:20For calling out the actions of the president's independent senator.
00:25He accused the independent bench along with the opposition
00:30of choosing paralysis political gamesmanship and criminal.
00:35Comfort over the lives and safety of law-abiding citizens arguing there.
00:40The vote has emboldened criminals while leaving vulnerable communities exposed.
00:45Pedaroff dismissed claims that opposition to the legislation was grounded in human rights or
00:50constitutional concerns, instead suggesting it was a refusal to confront the country.
00:55escalating crime problem. He pointed to decades of gang violence, drug
01:00trafficking, home invasions and murder, saying families now live behind security.
01:05bars and entire communities have been surrendered to criminal control.
01:10According to the government MP, the Zoso legislation was an attempt to
01:15lawfully reclaim those areas with safeguards in place.
01:20that he says was deliberately shut down in the upper house by the independent bench.
01:25Pedaroff went further stating that independent senators have damaged their credibility
01:30and no longer represent the public interest, accusing them of hiding behind
01:35what he called academic language while violence continues on the streets.
01:40According to Pedaroff, the race card has been played cynically and irresponsibly.
01:45he said crime statistics are not racism, saying, quote, reality is not
01:50prejudice. To deny where violent crime is concentrated on who suffers most from it
01:55is to lie to the nation and abandon the very communities these critics
02:00pretend to defend, end quote. He said the defeat of the bill is not the end and that
02:05government will return with legislation that is comprehensive and impossible.
02:10to dilute. He says every constitutional avenue will be explored and every
02:15lawful mechanism activated. The opposition and independent senators have defended
02:20their position on the bill citing constitutional and civil liberty concerns.
02:25Roshita Mawari, Rupinarayan, TV6 News.
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