The Opposition leader is urging the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to fire National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds and challenged him to take over the reins of the ministry himself.
She made the call during a media conference at the Parliament after the Budget Debate in the Parliament came to an end.
She said: “Rowley must man up and show some leadership in this critical area. All his ministers of national security thus far have failed.”
Persad-Bissessar said the country is in a state of anarchy, especially after an attack on Deputy Prisons Commissioner Sherwin Bruce outside his Barataria home on Wednesday.
The UNC leader said with increases in serious crimes, including murders, home invasions, extortion, drive-by shootings, mass shootings, slaying of children, rape and robberies, Hinds had failed.
She said it is time for Dr Rowley, as Prime Minister and head of the National Security Council (NSC), “to man up,” fire Hinds and take over the National Security Ministry.
She said it would not be a novel move as other prime ministers had done it in the past when it became necessary.
Persad-Bissessar also criticised Rowley for not spending time in the budget debate to treat with crime-fighting measures.
She said he voiced no empathy for the families of loved ones who lost their lives to horrible homicides and other dastardly crimes, or to business owners who were shutting down their businesses and seeking to migrate because of extortion.
As head of the NSC, she said he was silent on what she described as an attack on the life of Bruce and its implications for law and order.
“Criminals feel emboldened and empowered, they are treating members of the protective service as a rival gang. Criminals have no fear of authority and the hopeless leadership of the MNS (Ministry of National Security) and Prime Minister as head of NSC.”
She denied any suggestion that her challenge hoped to see him fail in the role.