Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has accused two independent senators of seeking personal favours in exchange for their support of the Law Reform (Zones of Special Operations) Bill, 2026, which ultimately failed to pass in the Senate.

In a post on social media, Persad-Bissessar said she had anticipated that the nine independent senators, who are appointed by President Christine Kangaloo, would vote against the legislation, but claimed the situation escalated during the parliamentary debate.

According to the Prime Minister, the two senators, whom she did not name, approached a senior government senator seeking personal benefits in exchange for their support and assistance in securing the remaining votes needed to pass the bill.

She said those requests were rejected, and from that point it became clear the legislation would not succeed.

“My Government will not buy votes,” Persad-Bissessar said, adding that those involved “know who they are” and must live with the consequences of their actions.

Persad-Bissessar used the failed vote to criticise what she described as a greedy political elite driven by self-interest, arguing that such behaviour undermines the interests of ordinary citizens.

She also pushed back against criticism from the People’s National Movement (PNM), saying the opposition misunderstood the intent and effect of the proposed ZOSO legislation.

Persad-Bissessar argued that the bill was designed to limit and replace the use of a State of Emergency (SOE), noting that her administration already holds broader powers under an SOE than those proposed in the ZOSO framework.

She said the government could have opted to declare another SOE instead, but chose to pursue legislative reform as a more measured approach to crime control.

The Prime Minister further accused the PNM of obstructing security efforts despite the disproportionate impact of violent crime on Afro-Trinidadian communities.

She claimed that young Afro-Trinidadian men have made up the majority of murder victims over the past decade and that many gang-affected communities are located within PNM stronghold constituencies.

Persad-Bissessar alleged that the opposition’s resistance to security measures was motivated by a desire to protect criminal interests, including drug-trafficking networks.

Citing crime statistics from 2015 to 2025 under previous PNM administrations, she said the country recorded more than 124,000 crimes, including approximately 5,000 murders and nearly 9,000 rapes and sexual assaults.

Despite the setback in Parliament, Persad-Bissessar said her government remains committed to reducing crime and supporting the work of law enforcement, insisting that efforts to derail national security reforms will not succeed.

Meanwhile, the PNM has called on the Prime Minister to identify the individuals who allegedly sought favours to secure their support.

Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Dr Amery Browne, said Persad-Bissessar should do the responsible thing and report the matter to the police.

“If the events that the Prime Minister has now conjured had indeed occurred, the responsible course of action would have been to make an immediate report to the TTPS, and to have the Attorney General or another minister alert the Parliament on the Hansard record,” he said in a Facebook post.

“The Prime Minister now has no choice but to present specific details and evidence to support her accusations. If she chooses to keep this in the realm of mere innuendo and speculation, with aspersions against the entire Independent bench, it tells this nation and the world that all she is doing is covering her shameful miscalculations with the lowest level yet of distraction, deflection, and misconduct on her part.”

Opposition Leader Penelope Beckles accused Persad-Bissessar of “playing politics with tragedy.”

In a post on X, Beckles said citizens deserve better from a government in the fight against crime and not “spin, excuses, threats and theatrics.”