By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE main reason why Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley chose to end the State of Emergency (SoE) on Wednesday is because he knows he will get no support from the Opposition to grant an extension.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Monday said the ending of the SoE which she described as a failure was no gift from the Prime Minister.
She was speaking at the United National Congress (UNC) virtual report.
Dr Rowley had announced on Saturday that he intended to go to the Parliament to dissolve the SoE in place to combat the spread of Covid-19. He said the SoE had run its course and the population was adjusting to living with the virus.
Persad-Bissessar said, “This is no gift from Rowley. He is taking front. Dictator Rowley knows that he cannot extend the SoE because he needs the approval of the Opposition to do so, and we will never do so. To extend it, he will have to explain how the SoE supposedly worked.”
She asked if the SoE achieved its objective, if the rate of spread of Covid-19 reduced or increased, if the vaccination rates increased and if the target levels were achieved adding that the answer to all those questions were no.
Persad-Bissessar said, “Rowley knows he cannot justify the SoE, taking away people’s constitutional and human rights, taking away their livelihoods, depriving them of their freedom. During this time Covid got worse, not better, and we had among the highest death rate in the entire world.”
The country must also prepare for a fifth industrial revolution with the increased use of technology brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, she said.
The Opposition Leader also spoke again about issues that the Opposition believes were ill managed by the government including the Police Service Commission (PolSC) and an apparent bias with independent senators.
