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Prime Minister Kamla Per-sad-Bissessar says she will meet with security heads this weekend to discuss whether there should be an extension of the state of emergency (SoE). The Prime Minister, who chairs the National Security Council, told the Sunday Express yesterday she will convene a meeting with various security officials, including the Commissioner of Police, the Chief of Defence Staff, as well as the Attorney General, the Minister of National Security, and the Minister of Defence. On July 18, 2025, the Prime Minister issued a statement announcing that, upon receipt of an intelligence report from the Commissioner of Police, she immediately directed the Attorney General to take the requisite steps to advise the President to declare that a state of emergency existed in Trinidad and Tobago. Persad-Bissessar said then that she would not stand idly by for years, months, weeks, or even days while a minority of illegally armed individuals act in concert to intimidate the people of Trinidad and Tobago. “I will not tolerate a resurgence of kidnappings for ransom and other heinous crimes initiated by gangs. I will not allow these elements of society to continue to terrorise and traumatise law-abiding citizens and to wreak havoc in our land,” she said. On July 28, Parliament voted to extend the SoE by three months; it is therefore due to expire this week—on Tuesday. Parliament can extend the SoE for a further three months with the Government’s majority vote. However, if the Government wishes to extend the SoE beyond that period, it will require a three-fifths majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
