00:00In Her Excellency's Republic Day message, President Christine Kangaloo says the occasion invites celebration, but the citizens of Trinidad and
00:08Tobago should also, quote,
00:10consider whether we have preserved the institutions of the republic, but also whether we have upheld its character.
00:16The president says the decision to become a republic was, quote, an act of self-belief and a declaration that
00:23we did not need to become an imitation of anyone else, end quote.
00:26She insists that this country can, quote, learn from other nations without borrowing their anger, their divisions or their habits
00:34of contempt,
00:35and that we can remain unmistakably Trinidad and Tobago in our global engagements.
00:40Her Excellency also addressed the issue of crime, saying it has caused profound grief and anxiety in homes and communities
00:47across our country.
00:48And she's adamant that while the state has, quote, a duty to protect life, maintain public order, and ensure that
00:56citizens can live without fear,
00:58a mature republic must protect security, liberty, and the sanctity of life together.
01:04She also emphasized that measures adopted in the public interest must remain, quote,
01:09necessary, proportionate, accountable, and subject to the law, end quote.
01:14President Kangaloo also reminded citizens of their role in maintaining a republic, saying, quote,
01:20Republican government also requires an active citizenry.
01:23Our duty is not exhausted by voting, nor by supporting those with whom we agree.
01:29It includes scrutinizing power, defending the rights of others as carefully as our own,
01:34rejecting language that caustens our common life, and insisting that public institutions serve the whole nation.
01:41Her Excellency ended by saying, quote,
01:44The republic is not merely the constitutional settlement we inherited in 1976.
01:49It is the daily choice to live as one people under law, to preserve both order and freedom,
01:55and to keep an equal place for every citizen within the national embrace.
01:59Dominic Ramroop, TV6 News.
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