Rowley still questions call out of volunteer soldiers: PM, President must give reasons Published: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley is questioning whether the August 29 proclamation by President Anthony Carmona for the call out of Volunteer Defence Force members was intended for a possible event after the Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed in the Senate one day earlier. Rowley, who made a statement on the issue at Tower D Waterfront Centre, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, said that could have been one of the reasons for the call out of the soldiers. He noted that citizens were openly objecting to the passage of the legislation, which was intended to create runoff elections in certain circumstances, the recall of MPs and to impose term limits for the Prime Minister. The legislation was approved with the support of three Independent Senators. It will return to the House of Representatives shortly for approval or rejection of the Senate amendments. “To me it was more interesting that August 29 coincided with what happened in the Senate,” Rowley added. He said he wanted to know if the Cabinet deliberated on the matter on August 28. He said he was very concerned about the “creeping militarisation” of policing in the country. Rowley made the issue public on Saturday evening after he was informed of it. He said the law provided for the call out of the soldiers in special circumstances when there was a possible threat to national security which would have required their assisting the police service. He said up to yesterday Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who was also the Chairman of the National Security Council, and President Richards had not informed the nation of the reason for the call out. He said on all previous occasions when such a proclamation was made reasons were given for it. Rowley also noted the recent transfer of the National Operations Centre from the national Security Ministry to the Office of the Prime Minister. He questioned why the Prime Minister would want to assume the NOC as part of her ministerial responsibility. He said in the 2010 Interception of Communication Bill, the Parliament rejected a provision for such a body to be under the control of any politician and this latest development was in breach of that provision. Rowley repeated his call for both Persad-Bissessar and President Carmona to explain to the nation why the call out of soldiers was made for the period August 29 2014 to January 7, 2015. Rowley quoted National Security Minister Gary Griffith as saying that it was requested by the Defence Force because of Borough Day and Christmas. He noted that the Borough Day was in May and a call out request for Christmas was made closer to December. Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley Source:: Trinidad Guardian The post Rowley still questions call out of volunteer soldiers: PM, President must give reasons appeared first on Trinidad & Tobago Online. #trinidad
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 08:39:52 +0000
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