As debate over an extension of the national State of Emergency (SoE) prepares to kick off in Trinidad and Tobago’s Parliament, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has doubled down on the policy, pushing back against growing criticism from labor unions, business groups, and the main opposition party while affirming that most law-abiding residents and enterprises back the government’s security crackdown.
Hours before the scheduled parliamentary vote, 13 national trade unions delivered a formal letter of protest to the Prime Minister’s Port of Spain office, specifically opposing a new restriction that bans all protests within 500 meters of 15 high-priority government sites. These restricted zones include Parliament, courthouses, prisons, police stations, and other key state facilities. Questioned by local outlet *Trinidad Express* immediately after receiving the letter, Persad-Bissessar brushed aside the unions’ concerns, arguing that protecting public safety is the state’s non-negotiable primary duty.
To counter claims that the ban unjustly limits the right to protest, the Prime Minister broke down the country’s geography to put the restriction in context. Trinidad and Tobago spans 5,131 total square kilometers, she noted, and the 500-meter buffer zones around the 15 sites add up to just 11.77 square kilometers – less than 0.23% of the nation’s total territory. That leaves more than 99.77% of the country open for peaceful assemblies, she emphasized. Persad-Bissessar also explained the security logic behind the 500-meter rule: the distance is sufficient to neutralize the lethal threat of small arms and rifle fire from outside the restricted zones. The ban, she added, was implemented after repeated incidents of provocation against the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), including a mass gathering outside the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)’s office intended to intimidate and harass staff working there.
The Prime Minister warned that previously permitted gatherings near high-security sites have been infiltrated by dangerous actors, including gang members, individuals with criminal records, and bad-faith political agitators. That puts both legitimate protesters and public servants working in or visiting these facilities at risk, she argued. In a sharp rebuke to critics who claim the SoE violates freedom of speech and assembly, Persad-Bissessar pointed out the absurdity of current opposition: opponents hold public rallies to complain they cannot host public rallies, and post widespread statements across mainstream media and social platforms claiming their voices are being censored.
She urged skeptical union and business group leaders to stop focusing on political posturing and instead prioritize delivering tangible benefits for their members, noting that most rank-and-file members actually support the government’s measures. Responding to calls from some business organizations for the government to release public evidence proving the SoE is effective at curbing violence, Persad-Bissessar argued that most criticism from elite business leaders amounts to nothing more than self-promotion, and does not reflect the views of the majority of law-abiding business owners and residents who back the security policy.
Addressing decades of systemic violence that has shaken the nation, the Prime Minister laid out the urgent rationale for the SoE: over the past 25 years, Trinidad and Tobago has recorded more than 10,000 murders, over 20,000 reported rapes and sexual assaults, and tens of thousands of robberies, assaults, and other violent crimes. She recounted the human cost of the ongoing gang violence, noting that children and women have been brutalized, and men have been murdered for refusing to join gangs or resisting extortion schemes. “The protection of law-abiding, God-fearing citizens of this country from violent threats supersedes everything,” she said, emphasizing that the emergency measures are temporary, designed to break a cycle of violence that has devastated communities for a generation.
While the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce has publicly endorsed the SoE and even proposed adding targeted hotspot curfews, Persad-Bissessar confirmed that additional curfew measures are not currently under consideration by the government.
On the opposition side, the country’s main opposition party, the People’s National Movement (PNM), has already announced it will vote against the SoE extension during Wednesday’s parliamentary debate. Persad-Bissessar blasted the PNM’s pre-vote position, claiming that party leadership has received direct orders from powerful backers to reject the extension regardless of the government’s evidence. She argued that the PNM has ignored the fact that the majority of murder victims across the country come from the party’s own traditional electoral strongholds, accusing the opposition of prioritizing the interests of its wealthy backers over public safety. She added that if the PNM chooses to walk out of the debate entirely, the party is within its constitutional rights to do so.
Asked whether she expected support from independent senators for the extension, Persad-Bissessar dismissed the idea, claiming independent lawmakers are effectively aligned with the PNM regardless of official party status. To critics who argue the SoE violates constitutional rights, she issued a blunt response: she has no intention of debating with bad-faith political and racial agitators who are only seeking publicity.
Closing with a message on the government’s core priority, Persad-Bissessar noted that communities across the country are united in demanding peace and security. For the first time in years, she said, young people can hold public walks for peace – events that would not have been safe amid previous waves of violence. Young Trinidadians and Tobagonians are fed up with seeing their loved ones killed in senseless gang wars that oppress entire communities, she said, and the government and security services will take all necessary steps to give these young people and communities a shot at a safer, better future, even in the face of opposition from small, self-serving segments of society.