Lead Editor-Politics
Patriotic Front leader Mickela Panday has accused Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of engaging in “TikTok governance,” urging her to “put down the phones” and confront what she(Panday) described as a worsening crime crisis.
“End the digital performance. Deal with the crisis,” Panday said in a strongly worded statement yesterday, as she argued that crime in Trinidad and Tobago is spiralling despite repeated assurances from the Government.
Declaring that “crime is winning,” Panday said citizens no longer judge safety based on official updates or social media messaging, but on their lived reality.
“People do not measure safety by tweets, graphics or carefully curated social media posts. They measure safety by whether their children come home alive, whether gunshots wake them at night, whether police stations are secure and whether families can live without fear,” she said.
Her comments come against the backdrop of a violent weekend, which she cited as evidence of the country’s deteriorating security situation. Panday pointed to the murder of businesswoman Shanice Morris in Balmoral Park, Chaguanas, the killing of municipal police officer Anusha Eversley inside a station in San Fernando, where firearms and ammunition were also reportedly stolen, and the fatal shooting of four people, including a nine-year-old J’Layna Armstrong along Lady Young Road.
“If the country is safer, why do we not feel it?” she asked.
Panday also challenged the Government’s reliance on emergency powers, noting that Trinidad and Tobago has been under a State of Emergency (SoE) for 276 of the last 355 days since the administration took office, equating to 77 per cent of its tenure.
“Since the declaration of yet another SoE on March 3rd, 49 days ago, 46 people have been murdered. How does a government exercise extraordinary powers for most of its term, yet ordinary citizens still feel abandoned?” Panday questioned.
While acknowledging that the previous administration failed to adequately address crime, Panday argued that the current Government has not delivered a meaningful alternative.
“For almost ten years in Opposition, you said you had the answers, you promised a crime plan. Where is it?” she asked.
She called for what she described as “real action,” including intelligence-led policing, strengthened border security, improved witness protection and more effective institutions.
“The people need more than headlines and hashtags; they need action,” Panday said.
