SOCIETY is in grave danger of breaking apart over the continuing unexplained secret proclamation of Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) 2011 Act.

This is the opinion of leader of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdulah, who called a media conference yesterday to urge citizens to speak out in defence of democracy and good governance.

"Our collective silence will have dire consequences," he said at the party's Marabella headquarters.

The MSJ, which was once a coalition member of the People's Partnership Government, broke ties with the administration in June.

The MSJ was one of several organisations involved in Tuesday's Citizens against Section 34 march in Port of Spain following which a petition was delivered to Acting President Timothy Hamel-Smith, calling for the removal of Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Justice Minister Herbert Volney, and for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to account for the fiasco.

Abdulah said, "We are not only faced with the lack of response from the very ministers responsible for that initiative, but we are also seeing a similar lack of response from the Prime Minister."

He said the signal being sent by the Government was that persons in high office did not have to account for their actions.

Abdulah said if the country failed to unite in the face of the Section 34 controversy "then long after this Government has been consigned to the dustbin of history, we will continue to have other governments and leaders —regardless of their party—who will preside over bad governance.

And the result will be the further deterioration of our social fabric to the point where it will be a 'season characterised by a time to kill'."

Abdulah said the MSJ left the coalition because it had betrayed the trust and confidence of the people by not implementing the commitments made in the Partnership manifesto.

He reiterated that the decision to march on Tuesday in a protest organised by the People's National Movement was not political.

"Citizens regardless of party affiliation, race, religion, geography, gender, age, we need to take a stand to bring a halt to the poor governance that now exists. This moment of crisis presents an opportunity for people to come together," he said.