IDA: Tobago MPs standing still on stand-your-ground proposal

Tobago Newsday Reporter 36 Minutes Ago

Innovative Democratic Alliance (IDA) political leader Dr Denise Tsoiafatt Angus. -

THE Innovative Democratic Alliance (IDA) is calling for public consultations in Tobago on the government's proposed stand-your-ground legislation.

IDA political leader Dr Denise Tsoiafatt-Angus, in a press release on August 8, called on Tobago MPs Joel Sampson and David Thomas to convene comprehensive consultations throughout the island. She said they have not engaged the public in any meaningful way on this critical issue.

"We have two elected MPs for Tobago. I have not seen either of them hold a single public consultation on how this legislation may impact our communities,” she said.

This is not a matter for private party meetings, she said, noting that it is the responsibility of every MP to consult openly with the public, in both East and West Tobago, to explain the implications of the proposed law and to hear directly from the people how they believe their representative should vote.

She said there is a growing disconnect between elected officials and the communities they represent.

“The title of MP is not for show. It carries the serious responsibility of representing the people in national decisions. If you are not consulting the people, one must ask whether you have already decided whose interests you are serving.”

In July, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, during a UNC Monday Night Forum at Penal, said a bill to enact stand-your-ground principles of self-defence has been drafted and will be debated in Parliament in September.

Citizens, Persad-Bissessar said, will be able to debate the bill at public consultations due to end July. She promised to make access to firearms easier for law-abiding citizens and a quicker administrative process to issue pepper spray.

The PM said the commission examined the stand-your-ground law in Florida, USA, plus other statutes (domestic and foreign) on self-defence options available against home invaders.

The bill would establish the parameters of the offence of home invasion.