Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les has crit­i­cised Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar, ac­cus­ing her of “ab­di­ca­tion of re­spon­si­bil­i­ty” in the wake of a vi­o­lent week­end that has shak­en Trinidad and To­ba­go.

In a state­ment yes­ter­day, Beck­les said the Prime Min­is­ter at­tempt­ed to “down­play and dis­tance her­self from the Gov­ern­ment’s poor han­dling of a na­tion­al crime cri­sis,” rais­ing con­cerns about her lead­er­ship at a time of na­tion­al grief.

“The Prime Min­is­ter has failed to recog­nise the hurt and pain of the na­tion, show­ing a lack of love, em­pa­thy, com­pas­sion, care and un­der­stand­ing in the wake of a bloody week­end,” Beck­les said.