00:00Opposition leader Penelope Beckel says her bench will not be willing to support an extension of the state of emergency.
00:07We will have a difficulty now. I mean, it can't be that you're going to run a country with a
00:12perpetual seat of the U.S.C.
00:14And that discussion has to be seen in the backdrop of the standing ground legislation that they told the country
00:22that will address a multiplicity of issues.
00:24Nobody has been charged, as far as I know, under the standing ground.
00:27This round of the SOE was proclaimed on March 2nd and comes to an official end on June 17th.
00:34They have said to the public that there's a reduction in crime.
00:38So if you have a reduction in crime, why would you want a state of emergency?
00:42I think further discussion must now be these no-protest zones.
00:47So if you have no-protest zones and you have your state of emergency, what exactly are you telling the
00:54public?
00:55So, you know, when you discuss the state of emergency, we cannot isolate it.
01:00To extend the SOE for three further months, the government needs to bring the proposal to the House of Representatives
01:06and secure a simple majority.
01:09Independent Senator Anthony Vieira says the onus is on government to prove the need for extending the state of emergency.
01:16It's not meant to continue indefinitely.
01:19And I think that the government really now has a burden of proof to try and convince the population that
01:26it is needed.
01:27To just say we have serious crime I don't think is enough, they will have to now come, I think,
01:32with some data, something to show outcomes, why it is necessary.
01:38Because at the end of the day, the Constitution expects that people's fundamental rights and freedoms will be the norm.
01:45State of emergency is the exception.
01:48Beckel says the opposition wants to work with government, but they have been maintaining a status quo
01:53where government makes no legislative amendments suggested by the opposition, even in the country's best interest.
02:00Teachers protest, nurses protest, maxi-taxi protest, young people protesting.
02:07I mean, they have to ask themselves, what is it they have done within one year that has caused so
02:13much dissatisfaction among the population?
02:16Beckels joined the Media Association of TNT in asking why the Prime Minister has not presented herself for questioning from
02:23the media at post-cabinet media briefings.
02:26I am standing here today, as I do from time to time, and I am willing to entertain questions.
02:32I mean, yes, as a politician, those are things that you have to do.
02:35I mean, the Prime Minister must give us one answer.
02:39I mean, is it she afraid of the press?
02:41Is it she does not have proper answers for the people?
02:44Because if you cannot be a Prime Minister, you cannot be the leader of a country and not make yourself
02:50available from time to time, not every week, you know.
02:53And even what you have now is even, I mean, no cabinet press conferences either.
02:59So it's not only her, but her cabinet seems to be absent as well.
03:03Meanwhile, the PM arrived at the Red House in advance of the 1.30 PM sitting, but appeared to not
03:10be in a talking mood.
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