00:00Port of Spain's South MP and Senior Counsel Keith Scotland tells the TV6 Morning Edition that specific provisions within the
00:09Emergency Powers Regulations 2026 raise serious constitutional questions.
00:15He points to Sections 11 and 12, which state that no person shall endeavour, whether orally or otherwise, to influence
00:24public opinion in a matter likely to be prejudicial to public safety.
00:29And which also grants sweeping powers of arrest, entry and seizure to the police if they deem it necessary.
00:37Scotland's Senior Counsel describes those clauses as a red flag.
00:41They themselves have members within their cabinet who post regularly on social media.
00:50So I am very much concerned about this and I'm thinking, I'm thinking whether we will have continuous Dimash Grah
01:04-like situations where it will not be just, it will not be the silencing of the mic.
01:10He says it is profoundly troubling and further questions Provision 4, which allows police to restrict movement.
01:19If you read Section 4, Subsection B, restrictions in respect of his employment or business, his place of residence, whatever
01:30happens to the enjoyment of property, whatever happens to these rights, are we now, and I have to ask you
01:39this, are we now becoming numb to the infractions against persons, freedoms and liberties?
01:47The MP also referenced the recent killings recorded in the country, and extending condolences to the families, included that of
01:56Azad Puran.
01:56The Senior Counsel calls on the government to take the opposition into its confidence to find a lasting solution to
02:04crime.
02:04At the same time, he says, he remains perplexed that regional praise for this country's crime-fighting efforts was followed
02:12almost immediately by the re-imposition of another state of emergency.
02:17If you can explain this, I'll be happy. Coming out of the summit, the CARICOM summit, wasn't a foreign nation
02:25praised for assisting Trinidad and Tobago by bringing down serious crime by 42 percent?
02:31Didn't that just happen one week ago? How did we move so quickly in F1, Formula 1 style fashion from
02:41that praising to now we need a state of emergency?
02:44The Prime Minister has said she had no choice but to advise the President to declare another state of emergency
02:50in the country, adding that unlike the former administration, she was not afraid to confront criminals.
02:58Nicole M. Romney, TV6 News.
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