PM: NO STATE OF EMERGENCY

Government is not contemplating any state of emergency, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday.

“We do not believe that the circumstances warrant it,” he said. He added that even “when you (do) decide that the circumstances warrant it, you have to do so taking into account the fact that this country is on a major thrust to attract investments here. And we have to be very careful about the kinds of signals we send.” The National Security Council meets this morning to discuss measures to deal with the crime situation. Addressing a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Manning also dismissed rumours that  National Security Minister, Howard Chin Lee was going to be replaced by media magnate and Chairman of the Committee on Crime, Ken Gordon. “You are trying to ask me is if I am considering Mr Ken Gordon as National Security Minister? The answer is no,” he told reporters.

Manning also elaborated on his views on the Executive President, which would marry the positions of Prime Minister and President. He said the Executive President could either be elected by one man/one vote or he could be the leader of the party that commands the majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. Therefore in this arrangement the Prime Minister would assume the position of President. Manning noted that Trinidad and Tobago’s position was anomalous.  He said that when the country moved to Republican status, the President replaced the Governor-General as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. But, Manning asked, who was in charge of the armed forces the President or the Government?