Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is calling for a three-month extension of the current State of Emergency (SoE), emphasizing the move as essential due to ongoing violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago. Speaking in Parliament, Persad-Bissessar stated that the extension was necessary to guard against decades of instability and bloodshed.
“For about 25 years, the country has been tormented by violence,” she noted, detailing over ten thousand murders and thousands of other crimes during this period. The proposed measures are temporary, she assured, but crucial in ensuring public safety and avoiding another violent quarter-century.
The United National Congress (UNC) government has previously implemented emergency powers during two separate states of emergency since assuming office in May 2025. The latest measures, enacted on March 3, 2026, are moments away from expiration on June 17, 2026, pending today’s parliamentary vote to extend until mid-September.
Persad-Bissessar faced concerns regarding the misuse of prolonged emergency powers, but she dismissed them, claiming that the current crime crisis warranted drastic measures. The government, she asserted, is “prepared to take any action necessary against criminal groups to restore peace to communities” despite facing opposition within the political arena.
The demand for the extension emerges amid testimonies from Deputy Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin, who confirmed that since March 3, 332 Preventative Detention Orders have been executed under the SoE. These moves, he stated, are part of a comprehensive government initiative addressing not only criminal enforcement but pervasive social issues affecting the nation.
