Members of the Senate have approved the continuation of five emergency powers resolutions, to extend the current States of Public Emergency ( SOE’s) until September 3.
The security measures have been imposed in Hanover, St James, Westmoreland, Clarendon, St. Catherine, Kingston East, Kingston Central, Kingston Western, and St. Andrew South.
Following an extensive debate, all members present voted, which resulted in 15 senators agreeing to the resolutions, 5 voting against, and one Senator was absent.
Leader of Government business in the upper house, Senator Kamina Johnson smith in guiding the resolutions, asserts that the continuation of the SOE’s as necessary. Despite the statistics, the Opposition Senator K.D Knight sought to express his disapproval.
A topic of many conversations is a recent writ of habeas corpus application in the Supreme Court, which was granted and presided over by a single judge.
The ruling declares that the continued detention of five men under the emergency powers is a breach of the constitution.
This decision has been met with skepticism and a lot of speculations are being made within the public domain. The Government is however insisting a decision on the matter has not been made. A thread of tweets on the matter from the Attorney General, Marlene Malahoo Forte, has also been up for discussion.
