ZOSO Bill collapses in Senate after Independents voted it down.
The Trinidad & Tobago’s Government Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO) Bill 2026 collapsed in the Senate on Tuesday night.
The legislation failed after eight of nine Independent Senators voted against, while one Independent abstained. The six Opposition Senators also voted against.
The legislation would have allowed the Government to establish ZOSOs in areas deemed as crime hot spots and required a three-fifths majority to be passed.
The Bill flopped a week after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar called the Independent Senators “brown nosers and boot lickers”, appointed by President Christine Kangaloo whom the PM called a “low level PNM functionary”.
The ZOSOs were intended to replace the ongoing State of Emergency (SoE), which ends at the end of January.
Several proposed amendments put forward by some Independent Senators were rejected by Attorney General John Jeremie, during the Committee stage of the Bill.
The Senate went to vote at 8.40 p.m. and was adjourned to a date to be fixed.