Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles has labelled statements made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar with respect to a call by activists for country-wide shutdown today as a “threat”.
Speaking at the People’s National Movement’s (PNM) candlelight vigil in Defence of Democracy and Freedom in San Juan on Wednesday, Beckles cited a call by activist Alyssa Phillip for the country to stay home and reflect in the aftermath of the police shooting of Joshua Phillip and a decision to lay charges against his common-law wife Kaia Sealy, who was also shot and is now partially paralysed.
She criticised Persad-Bissessar’s response, stating, “If you read the Express today (Wednesday), Kamla Persad-Bissessar is saying to all that want to protest…protest. You want to shut down the country…shut down the country. But remember, at the end of your month, you have bills to pay. What is she really telling you? It’s more than that. It’s more than that. It is a threat,” said Beckles.
The Opposition Leader said Persad-Bissessar had herself called for the country to be shut down in 2018, and added that she’s waiting patiently to see the Prime Minister’s response to the people who intend to stay home.
Beckles also made reference to the Emergency Powers Regulations, Legal Notice No 40 of 2026, that oversaw the implementation of “No Protest Zones” and questioned why this decision was made. The Parliament was one of 15 areas designated as a “No Protest Zone”.
“It is important for you to remember that it is normal for people to protest in front the Parliament. As a matter of fact, if you’re a politician and you can’t take picong and you can’t pass in front of the Parliament and take picong, you shouldn’t be a politician.
“You know when a government threatens its citizens every day and keeps warning you about what you say, what you see on your phone, when they’re threatening social media activists and they want to threaten politicians, it is a dictatorship and we need to wake our people,” said Beckles.
She also spoke of a call by multiple trade unions to rescind the measure. “The Prime Minister together with some trade union movements formed a coalition and they were able to ensure that the UNC got into office. You all read the papers today? The Prime Minister is telling the trade union movement what you should be doing is seeing benefits for your members. So the Prime Minister does not even recognise her partners that were responsible for her getting into office.”
Beckles dedicated the candlelight vigil to a number of slain children and repeated criticism of the Government over its handling of crime across the country.
She asked the crowd present to lift its candles in honour of 14-month old Shermaya Jada Motilal, killed by her father in a domestic dispute in 2024; missing two-year-old Angelo Tobias Plaza of Tobago; 23-month-old Akini Kafi; and nine-year-old J’Layna Armstrong.
“They were children, our children. Children whose parents sang to them. Tonight we remember them. We remember every child, every young person, every woman. We think of every parent who lost a child because that is what tonight is all about,” she said.
Beckles said the Government had been marketing crime as an issue that only occurred in PNM constituencies. She however cited a number of cases that recently occurred “down South”.
“The Lord had to remind them don’t lie. Don’t lie. So you had a triple murder down South and you had a double murder down South in Penal, seven persons being killed in less than 24 hours and the double murder occurring right in the constituency of the Prime Minister.
“They would have you believe that it is only in PNM constituencies that crime takes place. Crime knows no colour, crime has no race. When a criminal decides that he wants to come for you he doesn’t know about the boundaries whether in Laventille East, or in Siparia. You feel a bullet has a boundary? You feel a bullet knows whether the victim is UNC or PNM?” Beckles said.
Meanwhile, Beckles also took the PM to task over the police handling of peaceful protest action by citizens.
In a Facebook post yesterday, she warned that the events unfolding before the nation represent a dangerous pattern of oppression, demonisation and vilification.
“The entire nation is crying out for meaningful solutions to crime, but Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar appears more interested in launching verbal attacks against communities such as East Port of Spain and Laventille than addressing the root causes of criminal activity,” Beckles said.
Drawing reference to the police disruption of a planned walk for peace attaching on Piccadilly Street, Port of Spain, on Wednesday, Beckles attached the front pages of that day’s edition of the Express and Guardian newspapers, which reported the action taken by police, and stated that the Prime Minister’s rhetoric and support for heavy-handed measures gave the impression that entire communities were being singled out for punishment.
“This is institutionalised discrimination against citizens whose only perceived crime is where they live,” she said.
The Opposition Leader also suggested that cultural groups and communities were being marginalised.
“Perhaps it is no coincidence that I am being told that Best Village, a historical bedrock of these communities, is being cancelled this year. Or that many involved in pan, Carnival and other cultural activities continue to await payment while the Government finds money to reward its elite friends,” Beckles said.
“These actions leave me with the perception that those who built and sustain our national identity in these communities are now being punished and pushed aside by Kamla.”
Trinidad Express
