Emergency crumbles
Published:Wednesday | July 21, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Bruce Golding will this morning huddle with the police and army chiefs to craft adjustments to their massive anti-crime initiative in the wake of the Government's failure yesterday to get enough votes to green-light an extension of the state of public emergency in the Corporate Area and St Catherine.
Golding, on the request of the heads of the security forces, was seeking to extend the emergency regime until August 21.
However, with six government members not on the island, the Labourites needed support from the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) to secure the extension.
Under the Constitution, at least 31 of the 60 members of parliament (MP) must give the thumbs up for a state of public emergency to be extended. There are 32 government members in the House of Representatives.
Despite political gymnastics, a stone-faced Golding and a more than 20-minute consultation between senior members of both parties, no consensus could be reached. All 25 government ministers present voted for the extension while the 18 opposition members in chamber abstained. Seventeen members were absent.
Charles' rebuke
"Shame!" Cabinet minister Pearnel Charles shouted as the results of the vote were read by stand-in Speaker Gregory Mair.
"You are against the security forces who are sacrificing their lives," the labour minister added, while pointing in the direction of Peter Bunting, opposition spokesman on national security.
Earlier, Golding pressed Parliament to grant the approval. He referred to a downward trend in murder figures since the measure was first implemented in May.
"We would be playing Russian roulette with the country's security. We would be risking a regression from the significant advances that have been made if, in the face of the recommendations of the security forces, we are to say, 'Enough is enough, this is as far as we are prepared to go'," Golding said.
However, the Opposition, during the debate on the motion, argued that there was no need for a one-month extension.
Bunting and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller said they were prepared to allow an extension until July 31 to allow for winding-down operations.
Golding, however, ignored the suggestion, arguing that the security forces would not be able to take on some tasks without those special powers.
Uneasy opposition
As it got closer to the vote, some opposition MPs moved from seat to seat trying to convince others not to be swayed by Golding. Among those uneasy was Fitz Jackson, MP for South St Catherine, who was instructed by Simpson Miller to abstain.
Then came the clearest sign that the parliamentary Opposition feared a political backlash for appearing to be soft on crime.
"We are interested in seeing this matter resolved to the betterment of all and I am suggesting, on behalf of the Opposition, before you put the matter to the vote, that we have a short consultation," Derrick Kellier, leader of opposition business in the Lower House, said.
A 10-minute recess was granted but members took twice as much time in an attempt to break the deadlock. The result: still no deal.
Bunting later told journalists at a hastily convened press briefing that the Opposition was prepared to have the state of emergency extended beyond Independence Day, August 6.
"We offered to accept a compromise position of an extension for 15 days and during this time we would ask to have a briefing from the minister of national security, as well as the chief of defence staff and the commissioner of police.
"We would be prepared, if we felt it was justified, to extend for a further 15 days to achieve the 30 days that had been requested. The Government took the position that either we agree to the 30-day extension at one shot or there is nothing at all," Bunting said.
Murder reduction
According to police data, from January to May, 737 murders were committed at a rate of 147 per month or five per day.
Ninety-two murders were committed in June. The year's homicide toll up to July 20 was 876.
"The effort and the measures that have been used to bring about these reductions are measures that must be sustained, at least for the immediate, to continue that process because the security forces have made it clear to me that the nature of the operations that are being carried out would be severely hampered if there is a curtailment," Golding said.
However, Maxine Henry-Wilson, opposition backbencher, lamented that the statistics presented by the Government were not sufficiently cogent to support its call.
"We are not against the police having the power to do whatever they need. We are not against a state of emergency per se. What we are saying is that we want to be able to take decisions from an informed perspective," Henry-Wilson said.