The University of Auckland is to bestow a posthumous honorary doctorate on the late Tongan academic, author and sociologist Professor ‘Epeli Hau’ofa.

Hau’ofa was described at the time of his death by The Sydney Morning Herald as an “inspirational writer, satirist and scholar  . . . . truly a man of the Pacific, one of the region’s leading writers who promoted a positive vision of Oceanian culture and history”.

Tongan academic Dr Melanaite Taumoefolau said the university would honour Professor Hau’ofa at a graduation ceremony at the Fale Pasifika on Saturday, October 14.

• READ MORE:  ‘Epeli Hau’ofa – We mourn your passing
• Other ‘Epeli Hau’ofa reports

The ceremony will be held from 10am to midday followed by lunch.

Dr Taumoefolau said there would be a small kava circle with Dr Malakai Koloamatangi and Professor ‘Okusi Māhina and a few others.

It is expected there will be about 100-150 guests, mostly Tongan academics and family from the community.

The ceremony will begin with a prayer, followed by speakers who are expected to include  Tongan poet and academic Konai Thaman and Sione Tu’itahi.

This will be followed by foaki e mata’itohí, then entertainment from the TAUA Tongan students Association. Sione Tu’itahi will be MC.

‘Extraordinary vision’
Hauʻofa was born in Papua New Guinea to Tongan missionary parents. He went to school in PNG, Tonga and Fiji and then attended the University of New England and the Australian National University (ANU) in Australia and McGill University in Canada.

He graduated from the ANU with a PhD in social anthropology.

He taught at the University of Papua New Guinea and was a research fellow at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji. From 1978 to 1981 he was keeper of the palace records in his role as Deputy Private Secretary to King Tupou IV.

While in Tonga, he and his wife Barbara edited the literary magazine Faikava. He became the first director of USP’s Rural Development Centre, based in Tonga, in 1981.

He taught sociology at USP in Suva, eventually becoming head of the Department of Sociology.

In 1997, Hauʻofa founded the university’s Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture. Through the centre he was mentor to a new generation of artists, sculptors, dancers and musicians at the USP in Suva.

Hau’ofa was a noted writer. His books included Mekeo: Inequality and Ambivalence in a Village Society, based on his PhD thesis, a novel, Kisses in the Nederends and probably his best known work, Tales of the Tikongs, a lively satire of contemporary South Pacific life, featuring multinational experts, religious fanatics, con men, villagers and corrupt politicians.

Hauʻofa died in Suva on 11 January 2009. At the time of his death, an academic colleague said: “His vision and person were extraordinary.”

Dr Philip Cass writes for Kaniva Tonga and is editor of Pacific Journalism Review. Republished with permission.

A new tsunami warning is now in force for all of Tonga following this evening’s violent eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai undersea volcano with tidal waves flooding the shoreline of the capital Nuku’alofa.

There is also a tsunami advisory in place for parts of New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and a marine warning for eastern Australia, reports RNZ News.

The eruption came shortly after locals in Tongatapu reported a “deafening” sound of an eruption this afternoon. They also reported stones pouring down on the main island of Tongatapu.

• READ MORE: RNZ Pacific live updates
• Earlier report — Tonga tsunami warning lifted but volcano still monitored
• Journalist based in Tonga describes ‘huge’ volcanic explosions
• Residents share photos of apocalyptic red skies in wake of Hunga’s large volcanic activities

No injuries or deaths have been reported.

Stay safe everyone pic.twitter.com/OhrrxJmXAW

— Dr Faka’iloatonga Taumoefolau (@sakakimoana) January 15, 2022

Kaniva News correspondent in Tonga Patimiosi Ngūngūtau shared a photo of sea waves flowing inland.

He described the deafening sound as “weird”.

‘Rain of small black stones’
“It was a rain of small black stones and black ash,” he said.

He said they had evacuated to Liahona in the central south.

Ngūngūtau said ash not only covered vehicle screens but their impact sounded like they could break the screens.

The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai undersea volcano erupts as captured by satellite. The dust cloud at the end of the video reaches a radius of 500 km. Video: Ventusky

Tonga Geological Services said at 1.45pm this afternoon satellite images captured this morning between showed volcanic eruption continuing, with ash emitted and detected at 7.20am this morning.

Tonga issues tsunami warning after undersea volcano erupts https://t.co/t2rjMNZb9Z

— ABC News (@abcnews) January 15, 2022

“This ash plume was due to an eruption that lasted 10 to 15 minutes and was drifting downwind to the east from Hunga. No further eruption has been detected since then,” it said.

“Near shore water turbulence caused by the eruption is expected to have ceased for all shores of Ha’apai and Tongatapu islands. It is advised that the public observe currents before entering the water.

“Owners of rainwater harvesting systems in all Tonga are advised to check for ashfall on your roofs for ash before reconnecting your guttering systems.

“Please clean if ashfall is evident. For locations of residents where the pungent smell of sulphur or ammonia is experienced please use breathing masks if helpful”.

BREAKING: The Pacific Island nation of Tonga is tonight the scene of a disaster after a tsunami struck. An underwater volcano erupted, plumes of smoke blacking out the sky and sending powerful waves through villages. https://t.co/wx2NZaxEPi @AlexLewisJourno #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/7Nng0zmT3d

— 7NEWS Australia (@7NewsAustralia) January 15, 2022

Flooded coastal roads
RNZ News reports tidal waves crossed the shoreline in Nuku’alofa and flooded coastal roads and properties.

There is panic and people are worried and uncertain what to do, RNZ Pacific reporters said.

The tsunami advisory for New Zealand’s north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands came around 8.45pm from NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency).

It said people in those areas might experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore.

People are being urged to stay away from beaches and shore areas until 4am tomorrow.

There was no need to evacuate other areas unless directly advised by local civil defence authorities.

Coastal inundation (flooding of land areas near the shore) is not expected as a result of this event.

TVNZ 1News reports that the second eruption in as many days had sent ash, steam and gas 20 km into the air.

A journalist based in Nukuʻalofa told the channel the situation was “precarious”.

“You’ll forgive the wobble in my voice because we’ve had a very frightening hour,” she said.

Asia Pacific Report collaborates with Kaniva Tonga.

Tonga’s new Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forests, Viliami Hingano, is currently in New Zealand for medical tests after the Vaiola hospital’s computerised tomography (CT) scanner stopped working, a government spokesperson has told Kaniva News.

The former government approved his travel last year in his capacity as Ha’apai Governor, the spokesman said.

The minister’s flight to New Zealand was repeatedly postponed by Tonga’s current volcanic eruptions which started in December.

“It was important for him to be taken overseas and get his scan done so that his condition could be identified before he was given the right medical treatment,” the spokesperson said in Tongan.

The spokesperson was responding after Kaniva News wanted to confirm that the minister was in Auckland for medical treatment.

Kaniva News reported this week that Hingano’s family had sent him love and support after a photo of him and a cousin was shared on Facebook last week.

The family urged Hingano to be courageous and prayed that God would help him through his medical treatment in New Zealand.

The former governor of Ha’apai was elected MP for Ha’apai 12 on November 18, and appointed by Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni on December 29, before he left for Auckland.

Medical issues divide community
The Kaniva Tonga report earlier this week about Hingano has divided the Tongan online community.

Some people were surprised to find out that instead of the minister being expected to meet his staff as the first thing he should do after his appointment, he was sent overseas for medical assistance.

Some criticised the Prime Minister for appointing someone who appeared to be a burden on taxpayers.

Some were irked by the fact that the minister’s travel and all his medical costs must be paid by the government because it was his ministerial entitlement.

Others believed it was time to review the overseas medical treatment policy.

Many suggested that all candidates who ran for Parliament must show evidence they were healthy and did not suffer from any chronic disease that would be a financial burden for the country.

Some raised the fact that the policy only applied to government senior officers, leaders and the royals. Commoners who become chronically ill can only be treated in Tonga with the limited medical resources and doctors available at the Vaiola hospital.

History of treatment
Most Tongan public servants, politicians and royals who have been sent overseas on medical grounds suffered from conditions that were serious and could not be treated in Tonga.

While many were fortunate to be cured in New Zealand or Australia and returned home, some did not.

Two recent former Deputy Prime Ministers, Lord Ma’afu and Sione Vuna Fā’otusia, were treated in New Zealand, but eventually died from their sicknesses.

A fierce online furore erupted in 2019 after the government hired an air ambulance which airlifted Lord Fusitu’a to a hospital in New Zealand.

At the time, those who opposed the overseas medical policy protested on Facebook, rejecting the payment of costs from taxpayer’s money.

The king’s noble was still in New Zealand and it appeared that he was still receiving medical assistance for his illness.

Former MPs’ medical expenses
Former Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakanō was regularly sent to New Zealand for checkups after he suffered a minor stroke while in New York attending the UN General Assembly in 2013.

His medical expenses and flights were paid from taxpayers’ money.

The government also sent former Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’ionetoa to Australia for medical treatment after having an injury while being an MP. He received spinal surgery at the St George Private Hospital in Sydney.

Kaniva News understands a former Prime Minister, who was wheelchair-bound, died after being sick and spending about a year or more in an Auckland hospital. While he was in New Zealand all his expenses, including the staff looking after him, were paid from taxpayers’ money.

A former Minister of Police was flown to New Zealand on a medical flight while he was seriously ill, but died during the flight. All expenses were paid from the taxpayers’ coffers.

Late Opposition Leader and Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva was also sent to Auckland for medical treatment during his tenure. He died in an Auckland hospital.

However, he paid for his travel and accommodation expenses in New Zealand with his own money.

Kalino Latu is editor of Kaniva News. Republished with permission as community partners.

Health Ministry Chief Executive Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola says the ministry had not responded to allegations made on social media to protect the privacy of a suspected covid-19 patient.

He said the ministry had been very careful not to release any information that might identify the person.

He said the patient should have been advised not to release any information.

• READ MORE: Other Tonga covid alert reports

Dr ‘Akau’ola said information had been released through various channels, which had caused problems.

Prime Minister’s concerns
During yesterday’s press conference a journalist asked why the patient was allowed to contact other people on his mobile phone.

He said this was why there were concerns in the social media that the government should take the situation seriously because what had been leaked from the MIQ included information that was unreliable.

He asked Prime Minister Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa to make a firm decision on the claim.

In his response, Tuʻiʻonetoa said he had just received a message on his mobile phone and was disappointed with what had been revealed in it.

The Prime Minister did not go into details on what he had received, but it appeared it was a video clip which had been widely shared on Facebook purporting to show the patient talking to what appeared to be family members on a mobile phone while the conversation was being recorded on another phone.

Serious accusations
In that conversation serious accusations were made against the government, including claims that it was lying to the public when it said the patient had been taken to the Mu’a MIQ on Saturday.

The patient said he had been taken on Monday.

During the conversation the patient said he had tested negative, but the ministry kept on telling the public the test was positive.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said two tests must be carried out to confirm a negative result. The patient’s second test would be today.

Kaniva News reported yesterday that Dr ‘Akau’ola had said the patient had returned a weak positive result and had now tested negative.

The Prime Minister said: “I have listened to it (the recording of the conversation) and I did not like the attitude of their conversation and it said the patient was taken to Mu’a MIQ,” the Prime Minister said.

Tu’i’onetoa asked the meeting for his officials to clarify when the patient was taken to the MIQ.

“I want to confirm that,” he said.

Respect for the patient
The Minister of Health and her CEO were looking at each other before the CEO apologised to the Prime Minister and the conference, saying it was true the patient was taken on Monday not Saturday as he was advised, because of some paper work issues.

The CEO said the ministry highly respected the patient.

“We wanted to protect his identity,” Dr ‘Akau’ola said.

“He is carrying a huge burden and the people’s concerns as well.

“As I look at it there was a weakness as he should have been given proper counselling advice for him not to release any information.

“However, we learnt from this”, the CEO said.

Family members
This morning some family members of the patient were concerned that some posts on Facebook targeted the patient’s paternal side.

The posts included one which said the problem was that the family should not have released the identity of the patient to the public because it would backfire on them.

Another said the whole family could be stigmatised by the situation, something that is extremely common in Tonga.

It said some families or clans were stigmatised with “kilia”, the Tongan word for leprosy, in the past. Nowadays it was a stigma that people used to identify those families whenever there was any dissatisfaction with them.

Republished with permission.

A person who tested positive for covid-19 in Tonga has now tested negative, says the Ministry of Health CEO.

Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said another test was expected tomorrow for the patient.

He said yesterday the covid-positive person, who arrived in Tonga from Christchurch, would continue to stay in the MIQ until his 21-day quarantine was over.

• READ MORE: Other articles on the Tonga covid alert

Dr ‘Akau’ola, who joined the Prime Minister and a team of government officials in a press conference in Nuku’alofa, said he was advised on Monday that the person had provided a second negative test.

Dr ‘Akau’ola reiterated during the conference that the sample from the patient was tested on Thursday, October 28 and Friday, October 29. He referred to the positive result as “weak positive”.

The Tonga case came after a weak positive case tested negative on the second test in New Zealand.

Last month, a covid-positive person who travelled to Katikati from Auckland, tested negative on their second test.

“The person had a high CT value, indicating a weak positive result, and was tested again following their initial positive result last week”, Stuff reported.

Tested on three machines
‘Akau’ola said the person’s sample was tested on all three of the Health Ministry’s covid-19 testing machines on October 28.

He also repeated what he had said in the previous conference on Friday that the weak virus could be a historical virus or a “baby virus” which tried to grow, but was stopped by the antibiotic because the patient was fully vaccinated.

“The nature of the virus is shedding and it can be negative or positive at various times and this is why we have the 21-day quarantine rule.”

All the people on the flight from Christchurch were required to have negative covid tests prior to departure.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Health said the positive case was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, and had their second dose on October 15.

Tonga’s main island Tongatapu is currently on lockdown for one week until Monday, November 8.

Kalino Latu is editor of Kaniva Tonga. Republished with permission.

The first repatriation flight to return stranded Tongans from Fiji which was supposed to start today as announced by the government has been postponed until the weekend.

A statement yesterday afternoon from the Prime Minister’s office said: “The passengers are required to be tested for covid-19 before boarding the aircraft.

“The public are hereby informed that the repatriation flight from Nadi, Fiji tomorrow, Thursday, July 09, is deferred to Saturday, July 11 at a time to be confirmed.”

READ MORE: Al Jazeera coronavirus live updates – US cases pass 3 million

In a media conference which was livestreamed through Facebook yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Health CEO, Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola, said the policy had been changed after Fiji detected three new active cases of covid-19.

Fiji now has three new cases of coronavirus following two more positive tests on Tuesday had been reported after 80 days since its last previous case was cleared.

A 37-year-old man tested positive for covid-19 in border quarantine, while the second case is a 36-year-old woman – both Fiji citizens repatriated from India on July 1.

The man is the son of the 66-year-old man who tested positive on Monday, July 6, acting permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong told media.

Three new cases
Dr Fong said the 66-year-old man was on the flight from Delhi on July 4.

He said the man was returning from a medical procedure in India and was accompanied by his son.

“The pair were travelling with 107 other passengers,” said Dr Fong. “The man was transported to the hospital for isolation.”

On Tuesday, Dr Fong confirmed the man’s son and a woman on the flight had also tested positive for the virus.

He said all three were isolated in hospital and the woman’s husband was being tested.

Medical staff
Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa told Kaniva News last week the flight from Fiji was expected to bring some medical staff and their families as well as Tongan students in Fiji.

They will go through two weeks’ quarantine on arrival.

Tu’i’onetoa said the repatriation flights from New Zealand would start no later than the first week of August.

Tonga has remained free of the coronavirus so far.

Kalino Latu is editor of Kaniva Tonga. The Tongan online news website partners with the Pacific Media Centre.

Recognised seasonal employee workers in New Zealand rarely have a voice in the New Zealand media, new research at Massey University has found.

Researcher Dr Angelynne Enoka said coverage of the RSE scheme by regional media tended to focus on official sources and employers’ views and almost never quoted workers.

Dr Enoka said she was inspired to research media coverage of the RSE scheme when, in her former role as a communication officer for the scheme, she noticed a disparity between what workers were telling her, from one Samoan to another, and what the media were publishing.

READ MORE: Under the gaze: A study of the portrayal of the NZ print media of Pacific Island workers in the RSE scheme

She examined 115 media articles from 2007 to 2012, in key regional newspapers in New Zealand’s busiest horticulture regions: Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Bay of Plenty and Southland.

Her research looked at coverage of the RSE in its first five years by regional media.

Dr Enoka said that even when workers were heard there appeared to be little understanding of the Pacific cultural values that would make it difficult for them to voice complaint or criticism.

Most articles quoted representatives of the horticulture and viticulture industries, who were predominantly European, she said.

Industry sources most frequent
Industry-affiliated individuals were the most frequent sources in articles, followed by government officials.

She said the two most common themes found in regional media centred on the idea that there was a labour shortage which represented employers’ views that a shortage of labour was the key reason for needing the scheme and reports on government policy.

Dr Enoka said the media could have asked whether increased pay and better conditions could make the jobs more attractive to local workers. None of the articles she had seen quoted unemployed locals for other views on work and conditions.

Instead, regional media had “parroted the employer view that cheap imported labour was the only solution,” she said.

“With the closing of borders here and in the Pacific, we have an opportunity to hear all the relevant parties’ voices and ask the hard questions about whether it is fair to Pacific workers to expect them to come and work in New Zealand at pay rates and conditions that New Zealanders won’t accept.”

“It is an opportunity to speak to Pacific countries and Pacific workers, not just to employer and government officials in New Zealand.

“It is an opportunity to query what long-term benefits really go back to the Pacific, and whether there is any room to move in profit margins for horticulture and viticulture in order to make the work attractive to resident communities, including regional Māori and Pacific communities.”

Questions need asking
Dr Enoka said questions needed to be asked about what skills RSE workers were able to develop that could help them when they returned home.

She also said consideration needed to be given to whether RSE work could lead opportunities for citizenship in New Zealand.

“Now that we have hit ‘pause’ on the flow of temporary workers over our borders, we have the opportunity to diversify the media coverage and encourage investigative journalism,” Dr Enoka said.

“This should open up a wider public debate that can help us evaluate who really benefits and how much, from temporary migrant worker schemes.”

The RSE scheme began in 2007 with a cap of 5000 workers from five eligible Pacific nations. It now has a cap of 14,400 workers from nine Pacific nations.

She said her research showed that important questions were not being asked about the scheme’s ethos.

“When the media don’t ask key questions, those questions typically don’t make it into public debate, either, so community understanding of an issue is limited.”

“These are the kinds of questions the media should have been asking all along, but with limited resources and limited diversity in print newsrooms, particularly regional newsrooms, this certainly wasn’t the case in the media coverage I sampled,” she said.

Media educator Dr Philip Cass is an adviser for Kaniva News.

• Allocation of RSE workers in 2019/20

Tonga has fallen five places to lie 50th in this year’s World Press Freedom Index.

In last year’s index, compiled by the Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), it was 45th out of 180 countries.

Tonga’s highest ranking was in 2016 when RSF placed it 37th.

READ MORE: Tough coronavirus controls threaten Pacific, global media freedom

Its lowest position was 66th in 2013.

The RSF report said Tongan politicians had not hesitated to sue media outlets, exposing them to the risk of heavy damages awards.

Some journalists said they were forced to censor themselves because of the threat of being bankrupted. In an effort to regulate “harmful” online content, especially on social media

Suspension of three workers
Earlier this year, the Pacific Freedom Forum said the suspension of three workers from the Tonga Broadcasting Commission had sent a chilling message to journalists at the public broadcaster.

RNZ reported that Setita Tu’ionetoa, Salamo Fulivai and Vilisoni Tu’iniua had been suspended over allegations they attempted to incite distrust in the government.

Forum co-chair Ofani Eremae said the suspensions would dissuade journalists from questioning the government.

“The message that is being sent to the workers or the journalists at Tonga Broadcasting is that ‘if you say something or do something that seems to be against the Tongan government you’re going to get suspended or you’re going to get sacked’,” he told RNZ.

Of Tonga’s closest neighbours,  Samoa is at 21st (down one place). However, RSF has warned that Samoa is in danger of losing its status as a model of regional press freedom.

The RSF noted that Parliament had reinstated a law in 2017 criminalising defamation. It said this had been used by  Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi to attack journalists who criticised his government.

Fiji remains below Tonga at 52nd, unchanged from last year.

RSF said Fijian media were operating under the draconian 2010 Media Industry Development Decree, which had been turned into a law in 2018. Journalists who are judged to have violated the law’s vaguely worded provisions face severe penalties.

‘Keep fighting’
Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre at Auckland University of Technology and a leading advocate of press freedom, said in a weekend World Press Freedom Day message it was vitally important to have free media across the region at this time of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Even in good times there is a tendency for Pacific governments not to understand role of media and how important it is to have good, reliable information,” he told the ABC’s Pacific Beat.

LISTEN: Pacific Beat talks to David Robie

“That’s the antidote to rumours on social media.”

Professor Robie said the 2020 RSF report is based largely on developments and information gathered over the previous year.

He said almost all countries in the region, including Australia and New Zealand, had dropped in this year’s RSF rankings. Australia was down five places to 26th (one place below Samoa) and New Zealand had slipped two places to ninth.

“Overall its looking bleak,” Professor Robie said.

He urged journalists to keep fighting for press freedom.

Media educator Dr Philip Cass is an adviser for Kaniva Tonga.

Last month’s announcement by Minister for Pacific Peoples ‘Aupito William Sio that overstayers qualify for health care during the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is welcome.

While Kaniva News does not condone remaining illegally in New Zealand, we know that overstayers’ families and children are particularly vulnerable in the current crisis.

Many have lost their jobs because of the lockdown and information on government websites indicates they have no automatic right to financial help.

READ MORE: Al Jazeera coronavirus live updates – WHO says coronavirus ‘natural in origin’

• California illegals to get emergency payments – estimates say a third of Tongans undocumented
• Backgrounder: Plight of many overstayers extremely difficult, but help available with food and covid-19 tests – by Philip Cass

We believe that overstayers should be offered a blanket amnesty covering the period of the covid-19 pandemic to allow them to access the full range of services.

As Kaniva News reported, for many Tongan overstayers, the cultural practice of fe’inasi’aki, where families and relatives share whatever they have when things are hard, is their only hope.

Unfortunately, this can mean that families who may already be facing financial difficulties are expected to make unrealistic sacrifices.

It can also mean that families are crowded together in inadequate housing, where it is easier for the virus to spread.

Early response
The government responded early to help visa holders whose permits were about to expire.

Holders of a work, student, visitor, limited or interim visa with an expiry date of April 2–July 9 who were in New Zealand on April 2 have had their visas automatically extended to September 25.

But for overstayers, there has been no such generosity.

As Kaniva News reported, right now there is currently no amnesty for the overstayers.

In 2018, it was estimated there were about 10,000 overstayers in New Zealand, many of whom are Tongans.

A full scale amnesty can be complicated.

During the large scale amnesty in 2000 about 7000 overstayers, including 3500 Tongans and Samoans and a similar number from other countries were eligible to apply for permanent residence.

Work permit option
“Overstayers who had been living in New Zealand for five years or more, had New Zealand-born children and were married or in a de facto relationship of at least two years to a New Zealand citizen or resident were able to apply for a two-year work permit as a prerequisite for permanent residence.

In the current crisis such a complicated process would be inappropriate.

Once the pandemic has abated and international travel is possible again, the government could set criteria for an amnesty and provide proper legal pathways for overstayers to remain in New Zealand or be sent home.

For now, what is needed is a blanket amnesty that allows overstayers to augment the medical care Minister Sio has announced and seek additional help with financial support and accommodation.

Kaniva News published this editorial originally on 13 April 2020. The Pacific Media Centre republishes Kaniva News articles under partnership.

ANALYSIS: By Dr Philip Cass

There was an American entrepreneur who claimed he was being pursued by the CIA and an Australian bookmaker whose racing career could best be described as colourful.

There were Libyans with money to spare and political ambitions in the Pacific and Russians after oil and a fishing port in Tonga.

The Australian and New Zealand governments were concerned. The US embassy in Fiji appears to have been slightly frantic.

READ MORE: Quixotic ruler who brought education, health and agricutural reform to his South Pacific kingdom

It was 1977 and as a major diplomatic crisis brewed in Nuku’alofa, in the midst of it all was King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, who was convinced that the way to prosperity for the kingdom was to build an airport that could handle 747 jumbo jets.

The king believed his dreams would be financed by the Bank of the South Pacific, a financial institution whose existence he had allowed and placed in the hands of John Meier.

Meier, an American financial adventurer, once claimed he had once seen the body of his former boss, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, in a deep freeze in Florida.

According to a US diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks, other ambitious projects being floated included establishing a Tongan flag airline, establishing aircraft and boat construction industries, funding a pharmaceutical distribution centre and building an industrial park.

Diamonds in the Sky
Speaking to BBC reporter Julian Pettifer for the 1979 television series Diamonds in the Sky, the king said he planned to build a 3657.6 metre long runway that would turn Tonga into “an anchored aircraft carrier in mid-Pacific.”

At the time of the interview Fuaʻamotu International Airport, which started life as an American bomber base during the Second World War, could only take twin engine BAC1-11s (then operated by Air Pacific) and Boeing 737s.

He wanted to upgrade it to be able to take 747 jumbo jets which then stopped at Nadi in Fiji on their way to New Zealand and Australia. He believed that if the runway was available then the bigger airlines would want to use it.

He told Pettifer a dozen airlines had told him that they wanted to put Tonga on their flight schedules.

Pettifer was sceptical, noting the enormous cost of building and maintaining such a facility and remarking that “unfortunately, His Majesty may be unaware that in a world where there are not too many kings remaining, there may be a tendency among commoners to tell royalty what they imagine royalty want to hear.”

Regardless, the king saw a future in which Tonga was the base for an electronics industry, with parts being flown in and assembled by cheap labour. Looking at neighbouring Fiji, he also saw it as a boost for tourism in the kingdom.

All of this would, he believed, be funded by the BSP. Perhaps unknown to the king, Meier was wanted on charges of swindling his employer out of tens of millions of dollars and had fled to Canada before arriving on Tonga.

US government radar
Meier had persuaded the king to establish the Bank of the South Pacific, whose operations would be essentially controlled by Meier rather than the king or the Tongan government. Alongside Meier was a group of people with no apparent banking experience, but all of whom were on the US government’s radar.

Bridging the gap between the Americans and the king was Tonga’s honorary consul general in Sydney and Melbourne, Australian bookie and racehorse trainer Bill Waterhouse. Waterhouse would gain as much notoriety as wins on the track during his career.

Meier’s presence in the kingdom seriously alarmed Washington, Wellington and Canberra, which kept a close eye on proceedings. On September 16, 1977, the US Embassy in Suva sent a cable US diplomatic cable outlining its concerns.

It described the BSP as a merchant bank, but quite how it would work remained the subject of “considerable puzzlement”.

“Main office will apparently remain Vancouver, with Nuku’alofa branch handling offshore activities free of taxes according to charter approved by Privy Council,” the cable said.

The funding for the bank would come from Canadian, Japanese and Arab sources. The bank would be permitted to receive a cut of a head tax on passengers arriving in Tonga and would be involved in buying new aircraft.

The US report said the king had his heart set on an airport extension and had dismissed what it called “the fishy odour” surrounding the operation. It described King Tupou as “bright and determined,” although it said he was often “heedless of practical considerations”.

No truth to rumour
It said he had “smilingly” told the Commander-in-Chief of the US Navy’s Pacific Headquarters in Hawai’i that there was no truth to a rumour that the Soviet Union had approached him about building the airport, claiming the money would come from Canada.

The diplomatic cable warned that if the BSP collapsed the king could well turn to the Russians to improve the airport in return for fishing bases in Tonga. In 1976, Soviet oil companies had expressed interest in prospecting in Tonga and there were negotiations between Tonga and the Soviet Union about a loan to develop Tonga’s airport and make it 11,000 feet long, more than the required length for a fully laden 747.

In March 1978, King Tupou IV visited Libya to talk with President Muammar Gaddafi about a loan for the airport project.

Meier later claimed that in 1978 he had been offered financial assistance with the runway project by a Soviet Embassy official in Wellington. He also claimed that on the flight back to Nuku’alofa he had been warned by an American naval officer that Washington would block the runway project.

What also exercised Washington was that the king had given Meier a diplomatic passport, making him immune to extradition or arrest. Meier was wanted not just for allegedly defrauding the Hughes Corporation, but also for his alleged role in a murder.

Meier would always maintain his innocence and would claim that he had long been targeted by the US government for his role in the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon.

Meier travelled extensively trying to sell bonds in the BSP, but as any substantial investment failed to materialise, there was intense pressure to find a way to have him arrested and brought back to the US.

Difficult to judge
How much of this was due to a desire by US authorities to bring Meier to justice and how much was an attempt to make sure the Russians and Libyans did not gain a foothold in the South Pacific is difficult to judge 40 years after the events.

Unfortunately, much of what has been written about John Meier since then often reads more like a conspiracy theory than sound analysis.

In July 1978 Meier was arrested in Sydney on an extradition warrant from the United States alleging fraud and tax evasion. Using his diplomatic passport, which had been endorsed by the Australian High Commission in Suva, Meier walked free, but the US, Australia and New Zealand were anxious to bring the matter to a head

Later that month the Australian High Commissioner in Suva and senior US diplomatic staff flew to Nuku’alofa to meet with King Tupou IV.

Before the meeting, the Tongan Supreme Court had ruled that the charter ordinance on which the BSP was based had been issued extra-constitutionally and would have to be resubmitted to Parliament in statutory bill form.

According to a US diplomatic report on the meeting between the Western diplomats and the king released by Wikileaks, the US Embassy in Wellington reported that the charter of the Bank of the South Pacific would not now be submitted to Parliament for confirmation.

The diplomatic cable said Meier’s associated with Tonga would be ended and he would have to deal with criminal charges as a private citizen. Police were ordered to confiscate his diplomatic passport if he returned to Tonga.

‘Not disturbed’
“The king indicated that he was not disturbed by the actions of the government of Australia or the US government,” the cable said.

The report continued: “The king’s face-saving comment at the end of the audience was that the Tongan government had used Meier as far as it could and that at least he had interested ‘others’ who were now willing to take up the airport project.

“The ‘others’ are apparently Japanese or Arab commercial interests, both of which the king has mentioned recently. We remain sceptics about the possibility of anyone picking up the project at this stage.”

Back in Australia, Meier sent his family to Canada and then – according to one highly colourful account – used a fake New Zealand passport supplied by the Cuban embassy to flee Australia. He reached Canada later that year, but was arrested and extradited to the United States where he was tried and convicted the following year of obstruction of justice.

He later claimed that while in jail the CIA tried to force him to sign a confession that he had deposited large sums of money from Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi into King Tupou’s bank account.

Soon after his release from prison he was indicted for murder, but after a tortuous legal process the case collapsed and he was freed after agreeing to a lesser charge, but did not serve any jail time.

Timelines:

Born in 1933, John Meier is believed to be still alive.

King Tupou IV died in September 2006.

Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and murdered during a coup on October 20, 2011.

The Russians never did explore for oil or establish a fishing port in Tonga.

The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991.

Today, the United States, Australia and New Zealand worry about Chinese expansion in the Pacific instead.

Fuaʻamotu airport’s main tarmac runway is now 2681 metres long, just enough for a 747. However, no jumbo jet has ever landed or taken off there because the runway is not strong enough to support its weight.

Dr Philip Cass is a media academic, associate editor of Pacific Journalism Review and editorial adviser to Kaniva Tonga. This article was first published by Kaniva Tonga which has a content sharing arrangement with the Pacific Media Centre.

References:

• US diplomatic cable September 16, 1977
• US diplomatic cable August 1, 1978
• A New Howard Hughes: John Meier, Entrepreneurship, and the International Political Economy of the Bank of the South Pacific
• Age of Secrets
• Julian Pettifer and Kenneth Hudson. Diamonds in the Sky. London: The Bodley Head, 1979.
• Julian Pettifer introduces his 1979 BBC series Diamonds in the Sky

Tonga’s Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva says he believes an appeal by Tongasat against a Supreme Court ruling over the illegal payment of millions of dollars is an attempt to hinder attempts to sue those involved and to force Princess Pilolevu to pay back the money.

Parliament tabled a submission by the government early this month to sue ex Prime Ministers Lord Sevele and Lord Tu’ivakanō for their involvement in the illegal payment of TP$90 million (NZ$60 million).

Pōhiva has revealed there was also a plan to lodge additional legal action to force Princess Pilolevu and Tongasat to pay back the money.

READ MORE: Petition to sue ex-PMs over US$50m Tongasat payment

However, he said he had discussed this with his counsel, Dr Rodney Harrison, and there was concern that the money could not be recovered and it would be very hard to investigate it.

Pōhiva told Kaniva News in an exclusive interview this week in Auckland that Tongasat’s appeal would not change Lord Chief Justice Paulsen’s decision.

“They are free to appeal and that was part of the judicial process, but I don’t think it would affect the Supreme Court’s decision,” the Prime Minister said.

Pohiva said he had read the decision repeatedly and marvelled at how Judge Paulsen looked at all evidence and arguments before he declared that the payments of the money made by the government of Tonga to Tongasat was unlawful within the meaning of the Public Finance Management Act.

Appeal filed
Tongasat, which is also known as The Friendly Islands Satellite Communications Ltd. (Tongasat), filed a notice of appeal against the Supreme Court decision in August.

Its counsel, W.C. Edwards, then filed the appeal in the Court of Appeal of Tonga on October 16.

The appellants said they had fresh evidence from witnesses, including former Ministers of Finance Lord Matoto, Dr ‘Aisake Eke, Sunia Fili and former Chief Secretary to Cabinet ‘Aholotu Palu.

Lord Chief Justice Paulsen issued a declaration on the legal status of the main points of the claims made in the court case in September.

He said the first tranche payment of US$24.45 million in aid grant funds received by the kingdom from the People’s Republic of China on September 4, 2008, was a grant and therefore public money within the meaning of the Public Finance Management Act.

“Following its receipt by the Kingdom, US$20,985,667 of the first payment was paid to or for the benefit of Tongasat pursuant to a purported agreement between the then Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr Feleti Sevele and Tongasat,” the judge said.

“The payment of US$20,985,667 of the first payment to or for the benefit of Tongasat was expended in breach of section 9 of the PFMA and accordingly unlawful and invalid.

Finance act breach
“To the extent that the first payment was expended to satisfy pre-existing liabilities of Tongasat that expenditure was in breach of section 30 of the PFMA and accordingly unlawful and invalid.

“The purported agreement between the then Prime Minister and Tongasat was in breach of the PFMA and in excess of Dr Sevele’s lawful powers and authority as Prime Minister and accordingly unlawful and invalid.

“Tongasat was not entitled to payment of the first payment or any part thereof under either the Agency Agreement or the Agency Termination Agreement.

“The second payment of US$25.450 million in aid grant funds received by the kingdom from the People’s Republic of China on June 9, 2011 was a ‘grant’ and accordingly public money within the meaning of the PFMA.

“Following its receipt by the Kingdom, the second payment was paid in its entirety to or for the benefit of Tongasat pursuant to a purported agreement between the then Prime Minister of Tonga, Dr Feleti Sevele and Tongasat.

“The payment of the second payment in its entirety to or for the benefit of Tongasat was expended in breach of section 9 of the PFMA and accordingly unlawful and invalid.

“To the extent that the first payment was expended to satisfy pre-existing liabilities of Tongasat that expenditure was in breach of section 30 of the PFMA and accordingly unlawful and invalid.

“The purported agreement between the then Prime Minister and Tongasat was both in breach of the PFMA and in excess of Dr Sevele’ s lawful powers and authority as Prime Minister and accordingly unlawful and invalid.

“Tongasat was not entitled to payment of the second tranche payment or any part thereof under either the Agency Agreement or the Agency Termination Agreement.”

The Pacific Media Centre has a content sharing arrangement with Kaniva News.

A petition calling for a lawsuit to be filed against two former prime ministers of Tonga for their alleged roles in unlawful payment of Tongansat money is now being organised.

Lord Sevele ‘O Vailahi and Lord Tu’ivakanō were prime ministers in 2008 and 2011 when nearly US$50 million of grant money from China paid to the Tonga government was transferred to Princess Pilolevu Tuita and Tongasat.

The Tongasat company manages Tonga’s orbital space.

READ MORE: Tonga’s Supreme Court rules Tongasat payments illegal

The Kele’a newspaper reported that a group is being tasked with organising the petition but it did not identify the group or people behind it.

The group was appealing for their cause and was in the process of gathering signatures, Kele’a said.

Since Tonga’s Supreme Court ruled last month that the payments were unlawful, the scrutiny on Tongasat has intensified.

Law Committee
As Kaniva News reported last week, a proposal in Parliament on Monday by cabinet to sue Lord Sevele and Lord Tu’ivakanō for their involvements was referred to the Law Committee.

The Acting Speaker said he had received a confidential cabinet decision, but it was in English and needed to be translated into Tongan.

He did not say what the cabinet decision was.

The Speaker also said he had sought the Acting Attorney-General’s advice and had received a response.

However, he did not say what the Acting Attorney General’s advice was.

The Pacific Media Centre has a content sharing arrangement with Kaniva News.

The government of Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva has planned an audience with the King of Tonga after a New Zealand legal expert advised that the king had no right to judge the merits of legislation passed by Parliament.

A government spokesperson said the plan was made after cabinet accepted the New Zealand lawyer Dr Rodney Harrison’s recommendations.

Pōhiva told Kaniva News in a recent interview that six Amendment Bills were submitted by the Tu’ivakanō government in 2014 and were passed by Parliament.

However, when submitted to King Tupou VI in Privy Council for his approval and signature he rejected the new laws.

These amendments included Acts of Constitution of Tonga (Amendment Bill) 2014, Judicial and Legal Service Commission 2014, Tonga Police (Amendement Bill) 2014, National Spatial Planning and Management (Amendment Bill) 2014, Magistrate Court Amendment Bill 2014 and Public Service Amendement Bill 2014.

Pōhiva said the Amendment Bills 2014 were submitted by the Tu’ivakanō government after the constitution was reviewed by a Commonwealth constitutional law expert, Peter Pursglove.

As Kaniva News reported, Pursglove said that Tonga’s 2010 constitution did not uphold democracy, the Privy Council lacked any democratic composition or accountability and the judiciary lacked accountability and transparency.

Amendment bills left
Pōhiva said when his government came to power in November 2014, the Tu’ivakanō government had left these amendement bills for them to complete working on them.

He said they pursued some of these bills, including some that concerned the assignment of the Attorney-General to the Privy Council, which Pursgrlove said was unconstitutional.

In a response to a request by the Prime Minister’s office for an opinion on the legality of the Royal Assent Order 2011, Dr Harrison said it appeared there was a misconception that the king had the “power to grant or refuse the Royal Assent conferred by Clause 56 of the Constitution”.

Dr Harrison recommended that the government try to get the king to alter his views on his powers by “reasoned persuasion”. Seeking a judicial ruling is also an option.

The government spokesperon said the Prime Minister wanted to talk to the king first as he wanted to make sure the constitution was correctly interpreted and followed through.

He said the Prime Minister believed the king would consider Dr Harrison’s advice favourably.

Vetoed by king
Minister of Justice Vuna Fa’otusia said many of the amendments to laws and the constitution passed by Parliament were vetoed by the king because of the Judicial Committee.

The Judicial Committee was comprised of some law lords and was chaired by Lord Dalgety of Scotland. The minister said if the committee did not agree with laws and amendments to the constitutions which were already passed by the Parliament the king would reject those laws.

Dr Harrison said the Law Lords played no specific constitutional role and they did not have any constitutional function or role as scrutineers of legislation or the legislative process.

Royal Assent 2011:
56 Power of Legislative Assembly

The King and the Legislative Assembly shall have power to enact laws, and the
representatives of the nobles and the representatives of the people shall sit as one
House. When the Legislative Assembly shall have agreed upon any Bill which has
been read and voted for by a majority three times it shall be presented to the King
for his sanction and after receiving his sanction and signature it shall become law
upon publication. Votes shall be given by raising the hand or by standing up in
division or by saying “Aye” or “No”

This article is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

The King of Tonga has no right to judge the merits of legislation passed by Parliament, according to a New Zealand constitutional legal expert.

Dr Rodney Harrison said that under the 2010 Constitution, review and evaluation of the merits of legislation passed by the General Assembly did not fall within the scope of the king’s powers of sanction and signature.

Dr Harrison said the king had withheld or deferred his signature from a number of pieces of legislation because it was deemed to be inappropriate or unconstitutional.

He said the new Constitution excluded the King and Privy Council from the role of governing the Kingdom.

He said judgements about whether legislation was constitutional went against the doctrine of the separation of powers and the role and independence of the judiciary.

He said the Royal Assent Order 2011, under which the King and Privy Council purported to act, was therefore invalid.

Dr Harrison was asked to give an opinion on the legality of the Royal Assent Order 2011 by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Real problem
However, Dr Harrison said challenging the validity of the Order in court would not solve the real problem, which was the regular deferral or refusal of royal assent for legislation that had been approved by Parliament.

“The underlying problem is not the legal validity of the Royal Assent Order as such,” Dr Harrison said.

“The underlying problem is the view currently held by His Majesty or at least by the Privy Council and, in particular the Law Lords as His advisors, as to the extent of the King’s power to grant or refuse the Royal Assent conferred by Clause 56 of the Constitution.

“It is that in my respectful opinion erroneous view of the King’s constitutional powers that needs to be addressed, hopefully by reasoned persuasion or if not, by judicial ruling.”

Dr Harrison said the old Tongan constitution made it clear that the three arms of government had to be kept separate as a safeguard for the proper running of the country and the safeguarding of the liberties of its people.

The Royal Assent Order 2010 challenged the underlying assumptions of the Tongan constitution. The Order allowed the King to appoint privy councillors as advisers and a Judicial Committee had also been established by the Privy Council in 2011.

Dr Harrison said any powers and functions conferred on any such committee, must be consistent with the overall scheme of the Constitution and any other statutory or fundamental legal principle.

King’s signature
Clause 41 of the Constitution required that “Acts that have passed the Legislative Assembly” must “bear the King’s signature before they become law”.

He said that under the new Constitution the king did not have complete discretion to refuse to sign an Act that had been passed by the Legislative Assembly.

He said changes to the constitution in 2010 had shifted the balance of power from the king to Parliament. This meant that the king should exercise his veto on legislation only in “truly exceptional circumstances and for compelling reason.”

Problems had arisen because the king had deferred assent to legislation passed by Parliament on the advice of Privy Councillors and the Law Lords appointed by the king to the Judicial Committee.

Dr Harrison said the Law Lords played no specific constitutional role, other than that of providing the King with advice.

They could not be permitted to operate de facto as judicial officers and did not have any constitutional function or role as scrutineers of legislation or the legislative process.

“The most fundamental problem with the Royal Assent Order is that it purports to confer on the Judicial Committee and ultimately the Privy Council power to review Acts duly passed by the Legislative Assembly and ultimately to determine whether each such Act is an ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’ recipient of the Royal Assent; and whether any such Act is or even may be unconstitutional,” Dr Harrison said.

Merits of legislation
“Under the new Constitution, review and evaluation of the merits of legislation passed by the General Assembly do not fall within the scope of the King’s powers of sanction (and signature).

“The ‘inappropriateness’ assessment falls foul of the new Constitution’s exclusion of the King and Privy Council from the role of governing the Kingdom. The constitutionality assessment does likewise, and in addition offends against the constitutional separation of powers and specifically the role and independence of the judiciary.

“If the assessments which the Royal Assent Order purports to authorise fall outside the constitutional powers of the King Himself, it necessarily follows that they cannot be empowered by means of the Royal Assent Order, as a mere Order in Council purportedly made pursuant to Clause 50(3) of the Constitution. On that basis, the Royal Assent Order must be seen as invalid.”

Dr Harrison said the Royal Assent Order was also invalid because it purported to confer the ultimate power of decision and assessment on the Privy Council, when it was only intended to provide a mechanism for giving advice to the King.

Media academic Dr Philip Cass is an adviser to the Kaniva News website. This article is republished by arrangement.

Tonga’s Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva disagrees with a decision by his Minister of Education to ban girls from Tonga High School boxing or playing rugby.

He said the decision was not in line with his government’s policy.

“It is the government’s responsibility to provide opportunities for all the students to participate in all sports,” the Prime Minister said.

“It is for the individual students and their parents to decide whether or not they should participate in a particular sport like rugby and boxing.”

Education Minister Penisimani Fifita and his education authority had imposed the ban.

Meanwhile, a former Catholic principal said that if Catholic schools agreed with the Ministry’s decision it would be “a disgrace” for the church.

Fr ‘Aisake Vaisima, who was principal of ‘Apifo’ou College before he left Tonga for Fiji for a new role in January, told Kaniva News the Catholic church’s education authority had not banned its school girls from taking part in boxing and rugby.

The comments came after a controversial letter from the Ministry of Education and Training was leaked to news media, sparking an outrage that polarised international news as far away as New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Majority not affected
It is understood the ban does not affect the majority of school girls in Tonga, especially at the church and private schools which are attended by 90 percent of all students in the kingdom.

In the letter, an education authority told the principal of Tonga High School, a government-sponsored institute, that a decision had been made by the Director of Education to ban its girls from participating in rugby and boxing.

The letter, which was written in Tongan, was dated March 15.

It Tongan it said:

“Ko hono ‘uhinga he ‘oku fepaki ia mo ‘etau ‘ulungaanga fakafonua ki hono tauhi ke molumalu ‘a ha’a fafine, ‘o taau mo e tala tukufakaholo na’e fatu’aki ‘a e fakava’e na’e fakatoka talu pea mei ono’aho ‘o kehe ai ‘a Tonga pea mei ha toe fonua ‘i he Pasifiki pea mo mamani.”

This translates into English as: “The reason is because it is against our culture to keep women dignified so it still upholds the tradition of which its basis had been set out since the olden days making Tonga exceptional in the Pacific and the world.”

Prime Minister Pohiva, said the letter from the Ministry of Education and Training to Tonga High School “purporting to ban girls from participating in rugby and boxing is not Tongan Government policy,” his office said in a statement this afternoon.

“Sports is good for the health and the wellbeing of the people and this government, like previous governments, actively encourages the participation of every Tongan student in all sports without discrimination.”

International reaction
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed her disapproval over the ban.

Ardern said New Zealand’s aid support for sports in Tonga would not be threatened, but she disagreed with the directive.

“As a school student I played touch rugby and I would encourage all young women to engage in whatever sporting code they are interested in,” Ardern said.

“We provide funding via MFAT to Tonga to encourage children’s participation in sports. A young woman will still be able to do that through their villages, even if this dictate is made by these schools.”

The New Zealand-funded Sports for Health Rugby Programme was launched at Kolomotu’a Community Rugby Field in February.

Known as Quick Rip, it was intended to focus on girls and boys aged 13 – 18 years of age.

New Zealand provided NZ$4 million to support efforts in four Pacific countries, including Tonga, to reduce the rate of non-communicable diseases in the Pacific.

Some people on Facebook supported the ministry’s move and said rugby and boxing were sports for men only and Tongan girls should not take part in them.

Kaniva News has a sharing arrangement with Asia Pacific Report.

• More Tongan news

A cabinet submission by the Police Minister to dismiss Police Commissioner Steve Caldwell has revealed concerns over an importation of prohibited weapons and large amounts of ammunition by Armed Forces and police after the King dissolved Parliament last year.

Two shipments of reloading machines, guns and ammunition – which arrived in Tonga before the November snap election – were seized by the Ministry of Customs and Police after an order by Police Minister Māteni Tapueluelu.

Tapueluelu said the reloading machines were prohibited in Tonga

These machines were made to assemble ammunition by re-using cases or shells that had previously been fired.

Only the Minister of Police had the power to authorise any importation of weapons to the country, he said.

Tapueluelu said he was concerned after he found out the request by the Armed Forces to allow them to import the firearms bypassed his office and was addressed to the Police Commissioner who, he said, had no power to approve it.

Tapueluelu said he was also concerned about the timing of the order of the weapons and the shipment’s arrival in Tonga after Parliament was dissolved.

Weapons order ‘too large’
He described the amount as “too large” compared to the population of Tonga and the Armed Forces.

He said he was worried that the police ordered ammunition while existing stocks met current requirements.

It is understood the claims byTapueluelu had concerned Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva while his government was in caretaker mode after the dissolution.

Lord Ma’afu was the Minister of His Majesty’s Armed Forces at the time the weapons were ordered and the shipments arrived in Tonga.

It is also understood this was one of the reasons why Pōhiva planned to remove Lord Ma’afu from the portfolio after his party won last year’s snap election.

But after a meeting with the King, Pōhiva re-appointed Lord Ma’afu as Minister of His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

It was not clear whether the Prime Minister informed the King about the importation of the weapons.

Lord Ma’afu resigned last week after the Minister of Police submitted his proposal to the Cabinet. Pohiva accepted his resignation.

The reason for Lord Ma’afu stepping down has not been made public.

Lord Ma’afu could not be reached for comment.

Deputy Commissioner Fa’aoa left Tonga
Documents seen by Kaniva News appear to show that Deputy Commissioner of Police ‘Unga Fa’aoa signed and approved a letter by Commander Sione Lino of His Majesty’s Armed Forces on October 2, 2017.

The letter sought the Police Commissioner’s approval to import firearms and ammunition including 100,000 rounds of 14085 ammunition, 300,000 rounds of 5.56 mm FIAI ball cartridges, 150,000 small pistol primers, three reloading machines and 38, 000 ADI 5.56.

Tapueluelu claimed Deputy Commissioner Fa’aoa had no power to approve the Armed Forces request.

The weapons were ordered from New Zealand from Ordnance Development Ltd, Castlecliff, Whanganui.

It is understood Fa’aoa left Tonga for the United States last year.

Move to dismiss Police Commissioner
The submission to dismiss Caldwell was submitted to cabinet on February 26, one day before Tapueluelu tendered his resignation, which Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva did not accept.

The Prime Minister said Tapueluelu wanted to resign because, he was frustrated and believed there was a lack of support for his submission from his cabinet colleagues.

Tapueluelu’s submission read: “Honourable Members of Cabinet are invited to consider and approve the recommendation to the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel and to Privy Council the dismissal of Police Commissioner Stephen John Caldwell, under Section 13 (b) and (c), of the Tonga Police Act 2010.”

It said the purpose of this submission was to seek approval of the cabinet ministers to recommend to the Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel, to dismiss the Commissioner of Police.

Tapueluelu’s submission claimed Commissioner Caldwell had said the signing by Fa’aoa was likely the result of “human error”.

Tapueluelu said Fa’aoa was also a lawyer and he should have known better.

Tapueluelu said that on November 21, 2017, he advised Caldwell in writing of what he considered to be a serious breach of discipline by the Deputy Commissioner.

He said he told Caldwell Fa’aoa had approved the order without consulting or seeking the Minister’s approval for the importation of ammunition and reloading machines on October 4, 2017.

“Deputy Fa’aoa’s ignorance of the Laws of Tonga, is a serious breach of Discipline, as it is ruled that applications for importation of ammunitions, should and can only be approved by the Minister of Police…”, the minister’s submission to cabinet said..

Police order without permission
Tapueluelu said police also ordered ammunition from New Zealand around the same time without a permit.

“Usually I countersign orders from overseas, but not in this case,” said Tapueluelu.

“It was during the Christmas season that the Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashley Fua asked that I approve the importation of ammunition worth of $20,000 already ordered and in the warehouse in New Zealand.

“I asked for the current stock of ammunition in Tonga and was informed there were 10,800 rounds of ammunition in stock. I sought advice from the Head Operation of Tactical Response Unit, Sikulu Fakateli and was informed that stock was enough.

“Consequently my office saw no need to approve this order. They ordered prior to asking for approval hoping they can force my office to an approval without proper consideration of the circumstances.”

Tapueluelu alleged no disciplinary action had been taken against the Deputy Commissioner.

Asia Pacific Report has a republication arrangement with Kaniva News.

• More Tongan news

The king’s noble and former Prime Minister, Lord Tu’ivakanō has been charged with passport offences, money laundering and bribery.

Police arrested the former Speaker of Parliament yesterday.

“Lord Tu’ivakanō has been charged with numerous crimes, including making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport, perjury, acceptance of bribery and money laundering,” Police Commissioner Steve Caldwell said.

Kaniva News reported last year that Lord Tu’ivakanō and his wife, Joyce Robin Kaho, had been listed by the Tonga National Reserve bank as being allegedly involved in suspicious money transfers.

It followed with a claim by a former staff member at Parliament that Lord Tu’ivakanō used parliamentary staff to improperly transfer money overseas. The noble denied the claim.

“If that was illegal you know which place to take it up with. Anyone in the office of the Parliament is free to do the same thing,” Lord Tu’ivakanō said in response to the former staff.

Passports abuse
Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva told the House during a debate in 2013, while he was leader of Opposition and Lord Tu’ivakanō was Prime Minister, that he had information that Tongan blank passports were being abused.

He described the mishandling of the Tongan blank passports as a “net that was thrown outside the circle of the Tongan authorities”.

In 2014, Kaniva News revealed e-mails between staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which alleged Lord Tu’ivakanō ignored King Tupou VI’s warning not to issue any more diplomatic passports to Chinese national Sien Lee.

According to the e-mails, Sien Lee is a close friend of the Queen Mother.

At the time, the former Auditor-General, who is now Minister of Finance, Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa, told Kaniva News Tonga’s passport scandal was one of the two biggest he had come across in the previous three years.

This morning the Police Commissioner said that although he was confined by what he could say publicly, he took the opportunity to thank and commend the Passport Taskforce for their methodical and professional investigation.

“As criminal charges are now before a Court of Law no further comments
will be made at this time. The Passport investigation continues.”

Asia Pacific Report republishes Kaniva News reports by arrangement.

• More Tongan news

Tonga’s churches are failing to provide leadership over climate change and it is up to young people to join with church goers to take action, according to research by an Anglican priest.

Speaking at last week’s Pacific Ocean Climate Change conference in Wellington, Fr Laiseni Fanon Charisma Liava‘a said that while the Tongan government was desperately lobbying developed countries about Tonga being on the frontline of climate change, the issue was not a priority for the kingdom’s churches.

The former Tongan Navy officer said his research, conducted in Tonga in June last year, showed that climate change was still a relatively new issue at the local church level.

It was still much managed and communicated as an elite level issue while the majority of the people at the community and grassroots level were left uninformed.

He said the churches displayed a lack of care and collective responsibility about the seriousness of the issue and its threat to people’s lives.

The churches failed to understand the significance of climate change and did not communicate its importance, especially to young people.

“The majority of church leaders still do not fully believe climate change is a serious issue and that it is not the responsibility of the church to combat its impact,” Fr Liava’a said.

Perpetuated behaviour
Churches continued to perpetuate behaviour and practices that did not help mitigate its effects.

He said because some church leaders were employed in public and private sector boards or foreign funded projects on climate change, people thought they only pushed a climate change agenda because they were paid to do so.

Fr Liava’a worked for the Pacific Community-Focused Disaster Risk Reduction Tonga Project in 2009 and as the National Climate Change Coordinator of Tonga’s Third National Communication Project from 2013 to 2014.

He said the main factors holding the churches back were lack of informed understanding, lack of moral leadership and deficiencies in Biblical and theological comprehension of climate change issues.

Fr Liava’a said people he spoke with said the churches were selective when it comes political and public issues.

“The urgency of the need for response and combat climate change demands young people and churchgoers to take action, together,” Fr Liava’a said.

“It has to start with education.”

Strong leadership needed
He said Tonga needed strong leaders to take action on climate change.

“Leaders need to step up and set examples. People can follow.”

The exclusion of spiritual/Christian principles and values from the climate change message was also a problem.

“The people in Tonga cannot be separated from God because that is what they believe,” he said.

“My research findings showed that one of the reasons why churches do not always support the government is because the government does not build on Christian principles to the climate change work.”

Rev’d Liava’a said that when serving as an officer in the Tongan Navy from 1999-2002 he had seen a number of areas where people had now retreated from the sea because of climate change.

These included Makaunga to Navutoka on the eastern side, Kanokupolu and south of Ha’atafu on the western side of Tongatapu and Lifuka in the Ha’apai group.

Dr Philip Cass is a media academic and an adviser to Kaniva News. He is also a research associate of the Pacific Media Centre.

• More Pacific Ocean Climate Change conference articles

The Tongan government’s efforts to assess the extent of destruction by Tropical Cyclone Gita have been hindered by falling trees and downed power poles.

The Minister of Disaster Management, Poasi Tei, said teams of government assessors had been dispatched to villages and towns to report on damage caused by the category four cyclone.

However, they could not start their work immediately because the roads were blocked by debris and downed powerlines.

VIDEO: ‘This is pretty horrific’ – Barbara Dreaver describes Cyclone Gita as her most frightening cyclone experience in 30 years

It is expected the assessment would be completed by tomorrow, Tei told Kaniva News.

New Zealand and Australia have sent two aircraft carrying aid to Tonga.

Tei said he was thankful for the New Zealand and Australia’s assistance so far.

Meanwhile, a 72-year-old man from Fua’amotu died suddenly in hospital while three people were seriously injured and 30 were admitted to hospital with minor injuries, Tei said.

Police offices flooded
Police Minister Māteni Tapueluelu said his ministerial office and some other police offices had been flooded.

He said many school buildings had had their roofs ripped off when Cyclone Gita struck.

Tapueluelu said this afternoon attempts to get information from ‘Eua in the wake of Gita had failed because telephones and the internet were down.

Another aircraft from New Zealand will fly to Tonga to conduct a surveillance survey in ‘Eua.

He said police were trying to make contact with the island from Nakolo in Hahake because of their closeness but he has yet to be updated in it.

It has been estimated about 5700 people sought shelter in evacuation centres during the cyclone, and it is expected these numbers would increase substantially  last night.

About 80,000 people in Tonga, including 32,000 children, were at risk from Cyclone Gita, Unicef said.

In Fiji, The Fiji Times reports Gita was expected to be located about 140 km west-southwest of Ono-i-Lau, or 300km southeast of Kadavu last night.

Fiji Meteorological Services director Ravind Kumar said the storm continued to move further west heading towards New Zealand.

From New Zealand, RNZ reports Gita has been upgraded to category five, the highest possible, Fiji’s Meteorological service says. Follow RNZ’s live coverage.

• Kaniva News updates
• Matangi Tonga

The Tongan government has welcomed New Zealand’s offer to donate $750,000 and personnel assistance in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Gita’s destruction.

The NZ government has a military plane with assistance ready to go once it is safe to land in Tonga.

Tonga’s Minister of Police Māteni Tapueluelu told Kaniva News in Auckland the government of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had indicated yesterday before Cyclone Gita struck the kingdom last night that it stood by and was prepared.

Tapueluelu said the Tongan government was in the process of fulfilling procedural requirements before it could receive the donation and all assistance.

NZ Minister for Pacific People ‘Aupito William Sio said last night that while New Zealand was on standby mode ready to provide support to all Pacific countries affected by Cyclone Gita, “it will not respond unless requested by the affected Pacific government”.

Prime Minister Arden said the NZ government had a military plane and $750,000 ready to help cyclone-battered Tonga, Fairfax Media reported.

The NZ government had already pledged $50,000 to help but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told RNZ today a contingency fund had been signed off so there would be no “no hold up” when they knew where to use the funds.

The aftermath
Tonga’s main island Tongatapu and its island of ‘Eua were savaged by the category 4 tropical cyclone last night in what has been called the worst storm to hit the country in 60 years, with gusts of up to 278kmh.

Tongatapu and ‘Eua residents woke today to what “looks like a war zone” and are assessing the extensive damage left behind by destructive Cyclone Gita, with emergency services fearing there will be “more injuries if not deaths”.

New Zealand media said two deaths had been confirmed.

Gita brought gale-force wind gusts of up to 200km/h, record-breaking rainfall of more than 200mm in an hour, and surging tides threatening widespread floods.

Cyclone Gita’s “destructive core” battered the east coast, stripping palm trees bare, destroying businesses, churches, schools and leaving homes in ruins.

Devastating photos show buildings in Hihifo and Hahake areas of Tongatapu with roofs ripped off and homes inundated with water.

Tonga’s Parliament House was levelled and school buildings in Apifo’ou college have been ripped off.

An overnight curfew was in place in Tonga tonight as the kingdom awaited the full force of Cyclone Gita, which was threatening to become a devastating category five storm.

Tonga Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell ordered a curfew in the central business district area of the capital Nuku’alofa between 9pm and 7am tomorrow.

The following roads set the perimetre for the CBD area – Tupoulahi Road to the east, Mateialona Road to the south, Vaha’akolo Road to the west and Vuna Road to the north.

READ MORE: TV One News’ Barbara Dreaver in the eye of the storm

“This is to further protect people and property, and we ask for public understanding and common sense to be used at this time.”

No one is allowed to enter the Nuku’alofa central business area apart from members of the Tropical Cyclone Gita Emergency Response Team.

Those who live within the CBD area were being urged to stay indoors, or get to an evacuation centre as soon as possible.

“We are urging people to seek refuge from this severe cyclone that could be the most powerful in the country’s history,” said Commissioner Caldwell.

Police patrols will be joined by Tonga’s Armed Forces for full coverage of Tongatapu to ensure community awareness, public safety and to evacuate as necessary.

Key safety messages to the public:

• Keep yourself and your family safe
• Keep off the road
• Stay at home if it’s safe
• Get to an Evacuation Centre as soon as possible with food and water
• Keep away from the Coastline
• Make sure you have water, food, candles, torches, medical kit if you have them
• Charge cell phones for emergency
• Keep indoors, and away from flying debris

Republished with permission from Kaniva News.

A businessman, Dr Tu’i Uata, who was not elected by voters to Tonga’s Parliament has been named by Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva as his Minister of Labour and Commerce, according to a lineup list leaked to local news media.

The Prime Minister may appoint no more than four cabinet ministers from outside Parliament, according to the constitution.

Pōhiva has chosen Tongatapu 2 MP Sēmisi Lafu Sika as Deputy Prime Minister when his 12-member cabinet lineup was submitted to the palace office yesterday.

The submission was made after King Tupou VI appointed Pōhiva as Tonga’s Prime Minister until 2021 after the November snap election resulted in a decisive win for Pōhiva’s Democrats.

“In accordance with Clause 50A of the Constitution of Tonga, His Majesty King Tupou VI has appointed the Prime Minister-Designate, Honourable Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva, as the Prime Minister of Tonga, with effect from 2 January, 2018,” the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.

The Prime Minister has the power to nominate his cabinet lineup before recommending the king to appoint them, according to the constitution.

Lord Ma’afu has been chosen from the nobility by Pōhiva to be his Minister of Land and Survey.

Defence Ministry moved to PM
The Ministry of Defence, a portfolio the noble held in the Pōhiva government before the election, has been removed and brought under the control of the Prime Minister.

The Ministry of Custom and Revenues has been brought under the control of Minister of Police Māteni Tapueluelu.

Four of Pōhiva’s Democratic Party team who were elected in the snap election on November 16 do not have portfolios.

They are Tongatapu 5 MP Losaline Mā’asi, Ha’apai 12 MP Mo’ale Fīnau, Ha’apai 13 MP Veivosa Taka and Niua 17 MP Vātau Hui.

The Minister of Justice, Vuna Fā’otusia, has confirmed the lineup list obtained by Kaniva News.

He said it had yet to be officially announced because it was being submitted to the king.

Legislation changed
Fā’otusia said some of the legislation regarding government portfolios had to be changed to allow movements of some of the ministries, such as Sports and Information.

The Ministry of Sports which is currently under the control of the Minister of Internal Affairs was planned to be be returned to the control of the Minister of Education.

The Ministry of Information was also intended to be attached to the Prime Minster’s portfolios.

Fā’otusia alleged corruption existed in the Ministry of Custom and Revenues and that was why the portfolio was being given to the Minister of Police.

The new lineup:
Samuela ‘Akilisi Pōhiva – Prime Minister of Tonga; Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs

2. Sēmisi Sika – Deputy Prime Minister; Minister of Tourism and Infrastructure

3. Sēmisi Fakahau – Minister of Agriculture & Forestry and Food

4. Dr. Pōhiva Tuionetoa – Minister of Finance and National Planning

5. Penisimani Fifita – Minister of Education

6. Poasi Tei – Minister of Energy, Environment, Information and Climate Change (MEIDEEC)

7. ‘Akosita H. Lavulavu – Minister of Internal Affairs and Sports

8. Dr Tu’i Uata – Minister of Labour and Commerce

9. Dr Saia Piukala – Minisiter of Health and Public Enterprises

10. Lord Ma’afu – Minister of Lands and Survey

11. Sione Vuna Fā’otusia – Minister of Justice and Prisons

12. Māteni Tapueluelu – Minister of Police & Fire Services; Customs and Revenue

Asia Pacific Report republishes Kavini News articles by arrangement.

King Tupou VI’s second son is the lawful successor to the hereditary noble title and estate of Ata, it has been announced in the kingdom of Tonga Gazette.

It said Viliami ‘Unuaki-‘o-Tonga Mumui Lalaka-mo e-‘Eiki Tuku’aho was entitled to the hereditary estate belonging “to the title to which he has succeeded together with the rents and profits thereof and all other rights and privileges attached to the title as from 25 September 2006”.

The King’s order comes after he sent former Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakanō and some royal guards to intervene in a baptism ceremony that would have made Prince Ata a Mormon three years ago.

The prince drew back, but a year later he was baptised as a Mormon in Hawai‘i.

As Kaniva News reported at the time, an unconfirmed report said the King later warned Prince Ata he could have some of his princely privileges revoked if he was baptised into the Mormon church.

It is believed he was the first prince of Tonga to become a Mormon after his aunt, the late Princess ‘Elisiva Fusipala Vaha’i, became the first member of the royal family to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1980s.

The Tongan constitution does not say that successors’ rights to the throne will be affected by their religious beliefs.

The royal family are members of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga.

It was unclear why the announcement was published on November 23, 2017 more than 11 years after the 29-year-old prince was appointed in 2006.

Prince Ata’s estates
Prince Ata is fourth in line to the throne. The noble title was previously held by his father.

In 2006, the palace office announced the late King George V had appointed him to the noble title Ata.

It said the appointment was to be effective from September 25, 2006.

Ata’s hereditary estates are Kolovai in Tongatapu and the island of ‘Atatā, 10 kilometres North-West of Nuku‘alofa.

As Kaniva News reported last year, Prince Ata had joined Mormon church leaders who held the first Sunday prayer service for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the island of ‘Atatā.

The service marked a milestone in the history of the Mormon church on the island.

In the past they have had to make a 30 minute crossing to Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga, to attend Sunday services and church meetings there.

The Gazette
The announcement by His Majesty’s Lord Privy Seal Tēvita Malolo is published verbatim below.

“In Exercise of the powers conferred by Section 38 of the Land Act, His Majesty King Tupou VI hereby Orders to be published in the Gazette that:

Viliami ‘Unuaki-‘o-Tonga Mumui Lalaka-mo e-‘Eiki Tuku’aho is the lawful successor to the hereditary noble title and estate of: ATA and shall possess and enjoy the hereditary estate appurtenant to the title to which he has succeeded together with the rents and profits thereof and all other rights and privileges attached to the title as from 25 September 2006.”

The Land Act
The relevant provision of the Land Act says:

“King to publish name of lawful successor (1) Upon the death of a holder of an hereditary estate or upon being convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for more than two years or upon his being certified as insane or imbecile by a medical officer,

His Land Act CAP. 46.02 Section 39 to 2016 Revised Edition Page 25 Majesty shall cause the name of the lawful successor to the title of such holder to be published in the Gazette together with the date of his succession thereto which shall be the day following that on which the death of the holder took place or on which the holder was convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for more than two years or was certified by a medical officer as insane or imbecile.

25 (2) On a convenient day not more than 6 months after the date of such publication, or, where the lawful successor is on such date a minor, 6 months after the day he attains the age of 21 years, His Majesty shall summon the person so named to appear before him in the Privy Council and there to take the oath of allegiance set out in Schedule VII. (3) The clerk of the Privy Council shall keep a roll of all persons holding hereditary estates.”

• More Tongan reports

Tongan Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva told his supporters that if he had really wanted to take away people’s land and the royal powers he would have made himself Minister of Defence and Minister of Land at the last election.

Pōhiva made the revelation on Tuesday night when he spoke in front of hundreds of his Tongatapu 1 constituents at the Uaiselē Hall at Sipu Road in Kolomotu’a before Thursday’s snap general election, which boosted the Democrats with a landslide win.

He was rejecting claims by his political opponents that he had a secret agenda to take away people’s rights to their land and give it to the nobles.

Kaniva News was unable to publish anything on his speech immediately because of Tonga’s electoral law which prohibited the publication of any material that could promote a candidate within 24 hours of Thursday’s election.

In his speech, the Prime Minister said he struggled in 2014 to choose a minister for the Ministry of Land and His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

Pōhiva, who was re-elected to Parliament in Thursday’s election, said he lay down at home at night and “thought deeply” about the problem.

‘Fragile’ future
He said he knew how “very fragile” the future of land and the defence services seemed in some people’s minds, especially the nobility and the royals while he – a man who had called for significant changes to the status quo in the past 30 years – was leading the country.

He finally made up his mind to appoint Lord Ma’afu from the nobility to the posts.

He thought the noble’s appointment could show the nation his ambition to bring about reforms that could bring more stability to Tonga.

He said politicians who campaigned against him during the snap election misled the people by telling them he was trying to unnecessarily remove the king’s power.

“That was not right,” Pōhiva said.

Protecting His Majesty
Pōhiva, whose critics accused him of wanting to “become king”, said he understood the way he wanted to protect the king put him and his government in a delicate situation.

The Prime Minister was referring to submissions from Cabinet to amend the constitution, including a proposal to reinstate the former Privy Council structure in which the king met with cabinet ministers in Privy Council.

The move was described by the Minister of Justice Vuna Fā’otusia as an attempt to make sure the king was directly informed first hand about government matters by the ministers because they were the ones who did government’s administration work.

Fā’otusia said the current structure was not secure because the Privy Council was filled with people who were not elected by the people and were not accountable to the public.

Pōhiva explained that amending the law would benefit the king and the people, but unfortunately his critics had twisted and demonised their intentions.

‘Dirty politics’
He described it as “dirty politics” and thanked his followers for helping defeat his rivals in the three decades he had been involved in Tongan politics.

Tuesday night’s meeting was repeatedly interrupted by applause and yells of support from the audience.

As Kaniva News reported on Friday, Pōhiva and his Democratic Party won 14 parliamentary seats which enabled them to form the next government without needing the help of the nobility or the independents.

It is understood Pōhiva and his cabinet were due to meet this weekend, although the line-up of the cabinet has not been announced yet.

Asia Pacific Report republishes Kaniva News stories with permission.

Tonga’s Democrats have won 14 seats today in the snap election in the only Pacific kingdom, giving them enough seats in Parliament to form the next government without needing the support of independents.

Kaniva News editor Kalino Latu, who is covering the elections from Tonga, reports that
supervisor of Elections Pita Vuki confirmed a moment ago that the Democrats had added
five more seats to their tally.

Vuki said the Democrats had won two seats in Ha’apai, two in Vava’u and one in Niua.

The Democrat Party had already won a landslide victory in Tongatapu in today’s elections.

The only seat they lost is Tongatapu 3, which was won by former Deputy Prime Minister
Siaosi Sovaleni who was re-elected as an independent.

The 17 People’s Representatives:
Tongatapu 1 – ‘Akilisi Pohiva

Tongatapu 2 – Semisi Lafu Sika

Tongatapu 3 – Siaosi Sovaleni (Independent MP)

Tongatapu 4 – Mateni Tapueluelu

Tongatapu 5 – Losaline Ma’asi

Tongatapu 6 – Poasi Tei

Tongatapu 7 – Sione Vuna Fa’otusia

Tongatapu 8 – Semisi Fakahau

Tongatapu 9 – Penisimani Fakahau

Tongatapu 10 – Pohvia Tu’i’onetoa

‘Eua 11 – Tevita Lavumaau (Independent)

Ha’apai 12 – Mo’ale Finau

Ha’apai 13 – Veivosa Taka

Vava’u 14 – Dr Saia Piukala

Vava’u 15 – Samiu Vaipulu (Independent)

Vava’u 16 – Akosita Lavulavu

Niua 17 – Vavatau Hui

Huge support for Pohiva
There has been huge personal support for Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva.

Pohiva won in spite of being challenged by 10 candidates.

A total of 86 candidates stood today, including 15 women, for 17 open seats.

About 146 police officers were assigned to polling stations.

As Kaniva News reported earlier today, all but two of the Noble’s Representatives in Tonga’s Parliament have been re-elected.

Lord Vaha’i took the third Tongatapu seat coin toss after winning a coin toss with Lord Vaea.

Massey University director of Pasifika Dr Malakai Koloamatangi told Radio New Zealand the
importance of the vote could not be overstated.

“The first election was okay, 2010, it was testing the waters and so forth. 2014 was to see whether the mechanisms and machinery was in place,” he said.

“But this election, I think more than the others, even before 2010, will be the real litmus.”

Media academic Dr Philip Cass is a Kaniva News adviser and research associate of the Pacific Media Centre.

• Full results at Matangi Tonga Online
• Other Tongan stories

A coin toss was used to decide whether Lord Vaea or Lord Vaha’i today won the third seat of members of the nobility to Parliament in the kingdom of Tonga’s snap election.

Lord Vaha’i won the seat in provisional early results.

Meanwhile, Losaline Ma’asi of the Democratic Party was leading the Tongatapu 5 race by 971–908 votes against sitting MP Dr ‘Aisake Eke. The provisional results from ‘Atatā electorate have yet to be announced to give Tongatapu 5 outcome.

Dr Eke had secured the seat in the last two elections.

Other Democratic Party candidates were leading the race in their Tongatapu constituencies.

They were current Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva (Tt1), Semisi Lafu Sika (Tt2), Mateni Tapueluelu (Ttp4), Poasi Tei (Tt6), Vuna Fa’otusia (Tt7), Semisi Fakahau (Tt8), Penisimani Fifita (Ttp9) and Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa (Tt10)

Former Deputy Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni has been reelected by Tongatapu 3.

Seven nobles elected
The king’s 33 nobles have reelected seven nobles to Parliament, including the Speaker Lord Tu’ivakano and a minister in Prime Minister’s ‘Akilisi Pohiva’s government, Lord Ma’afu.

Vava’u, Niuas, Ha’apai and ‘Eua people provisional election results have yet to be announced.

More than 59,000 voters were registered for the election and there were 15 women candidates, the largest ever female cohort contesting the vote.

Noble’s Representatives 2017:
Tongatapu:
1. Lord Tu’ivakano 12 votes

2. Lord Ma’afu 11

3. Lord Vaha’i 7

Vava’u
1. Lord Tu’ilakepa 6 votes

2. Lord Tu’i’afitu 5

Ha’apai
1. Lord Tui’ha’angana 5 votes

2. Lord Fakafanua 3

‘Eua
1. Lord Nuku 10 votes

Ongo Niua
1. Lord Fusitu’a 3 votes

• Other Tongan election stories
• 10 things you need to know about the Tongan election

The general election tomorrow is crucial for the people of Tonga, says Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland.

Baroness Scotland said the elections would strengthen the democratic process in Tonga.

A Commonwealth Observer Group is in Tonga to monitor the election.

The team was invited to observe the elections by the Tongan government.

The group is being led by former New Zealand Attorney-General Margaret Wilson.

Other members of the commonwealth team include Nauru’s Electoral Commissioner Joseph Cain, Fiji’s Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem and a human rights lawyer from Swaziland, Lomcebo Dlamini.

The team will remain in country until November 20.

Forum, US observers
Observers from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the US Embassy in Suva will also be watching the election.

Meanwhile, the kingdom’s Supervisor of Elections, Pita Vuki, has told Radio New Zealand he hoped the election results would be announced on Thursday night.

Polling booths will open at 9am and close at 4pm.

Polling officials from ‘Eua, Tongatapu, Vava’u, Ha’apai and the Niua have been trained on what to do on election day and election materials have been sent to the outer islands.

Vuki said the final electoral roll, containing about 59,000 names, had been printed.

At the last election voter turnout was 79 percent.

Thursday’s elections were called after King Tupou VI dissolved Parliament in August and sacked pro-democracy Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva but kept him on as caretaker prime minister.

• More Tongan stories

Mangere Labour MP Aupito William Sio has hit out at claims by Tongan Māori Party candidate Manase Lua that Labour has done nothing for Pasifika people.

In comments reported by Kaniva News, Lua said Labour had backed 80 percent of the National Party’s legislation.

Aupito, who is Labour’s spokesperson for Pacific Island Affairs, said the Māori Party had been part of the National government and was responsible for New Zealand’s growing unequal society.

“They are responsible for the growing unequal society we now have,” Aupito said.

“While the wealth of the wealthiest New Zealanders continues to rise, we see more homelessness in our communities.

“People live in cars, garages, or share a bedroom among several people in a boarding house, a caravan, or hotel room.

“New Zealand never used to be this way. The Salvation Army tell us they see more and more people who work full-time coming to them for food parcels.

Māori Party support
““All this has happened under the National government, supported by the Māori Party.”

Aupito said that in opposition Labour had challenged the government on its spending of public funds and advocated strongly for more affordable housing, better fund healthcare, free education and for the lifting of family incomes and workers’ incomes.

“National has refused and only promised tax cuts, which favour the very wealthy.

“Labour has voted against the government’s budget in the last nine years because we don’t believe in giving wealthy people more money at the expense of creating more poverty, more homelessness and making it difficult for families to put their children through tertiary studies.”

Inequality more severe
In an interview with Kaniva News before the last election in 2014, Aupito said that in the previous six years inequality in New Zealand had become severe.

“People come to my office for a variety of reasons and often turn up as a last resort where they just aren’t getting any assistance from the various government departments,” he said.

“A lot of these issues have been determined by the struggles our families are facing.

“There’s also the housing crisis which affects so many of our Pacific families.

“The housing crisis has also been exacerbated due to the government removing itself from providing state houses.”

In the same interview, Aupito defended Labour’s record against criticism from the Pacific community for its stand on gay marriage.

He said at the time that while he respected members of the gay community, he had voted against gay marriage to reflect the views of the majority view of his Pasifika constituency.

• More NZ election stories

Tonga’s Consul has denied claims by Tongan Māori Party candidate Manase Lua that he was endorsed by King Tupou VI.

Lua made the claims in comments posted underneath photographs of him and his supporters meeting the consul on Monday.

His comments under the photos on Facebook said this was proof he was endorsed by the king and the Tongan consulate to be the only Tongan candidate in New Zealand for Tongans to vote for.

“Here are photos of our meeting with His Excellency Sitaafoti Aho, the Tongan Consulate-General for NZ, on 20 July 2017 confirming me as the number 1 Tongan candidate for the Māori Party. In humble response to the Māori King’s request to the King of Tonga,” Lua wrote on Facebook.

However, Tongan Consul Stafford ‘Aho told Kaniva News today Lua was wrong. He said neither the king nor he had endorsed Lua.

On Sunday, a Māori Party press release said: “He (Maori King Tuheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII) made a request for His Majesty King Tupou VI to ask his subjects living in Aotearoa to join and provide a Tongan candidate to stand for the Māori Party. The King of Tonga answered the call.

“Manase Nehemaia Lua is the chosen Tongan candidate blessed by the Royal Houses.”

Similar requests
The press release claimed similar requests had been made to the Head of State in Samoa and the Ariki of Rarotonga.

“All have answered the call, hence why we now have eight candidates from these Pacific nations running,” the media release said.

Six candidates from New Zealand’s Pacific communities will stand in general seats for the Māori Party in the national elections.

They are standing in areas with strong Labour support and in some cases against sitting Labour MPs with Pacific backgrounds, including Jenny Salesa and Aupito Su’a William Sio.

Lua has been contacted for comment.

Media academic Dr Philip Cass is an adviser and contributor to Kaniva News. This article is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

• More NZ general election stories
• Pasifika voters want ‘hands-up, not hand outs’

Tongan interim Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva says he suspected his rejection of a proposal by the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister to spend T$60,000 on the opening celebration of the St George Palace government building had turned the duo against him.

Pōhiva sacked Deputy Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni and Minister of Finance Tēvita Lavemaau on Friday before he left for Samoa to attend the Pacific Leaders Forum this week.

His son and personal assistant, Po’oi Pōhiva, told Kaniva News the Prime Minister had submitted the letter of their dismissals to the king on Friday evening.

He said they received a message from the Lord Chamberlain saying that he had handed in the letter to the King.

Po’oi said the Prime Minister was expecting a response from the King yesterday.

Lavemaau and Sovaleni proposed to the cabinet that TP$60,000 be allocated to help fund the preparations for the opening ceremony of the St George Palace on Friday.

Pōhiva said he and some of the ministers who attended a cabinet meeting did not approve the proposal as they thought it was a huge amount of money to be spent on the ceremony.

Parliament dissolved
King Tupou VI, who suddenly dissolved Parliament on August 24 and put Pōhiva and his government in caretaker mode, opened the new multimillion pa’anga St George Government Building on Friday.

He was welcomed by the Prime Minister during the ceremony and they shook hands before the King left the event.

The T$28 million building project was funded by the Chinese government in an agreement signed in 2012.

The fully equipped building with a floor area of around 5745 sq m has housed the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cabinet Chambers.

The interim Prime Minister alleged Sovaleni and Lavemaau knew about the plan of the King and Speaker, Lord Tu’ivakano, to dissolve Parliament, but they did not warn him because they were holding a grudge against him after their proposal had been rejected, he told Radio Tonga Broadcom and Tonga Daily News on Sunday night.

Pōhiva said he was disappointed with Sovaleni and Lavemaau’s action in that they should have warmed him about the dissolution.

He implied that if he had been warned of the plan to dissolve the House he might have approached the King first.

He said he found out when he arrived in New Zealand on his way to Samoa last week some people in New Zealand knew the King was going to dissolve Parliament.

Other concerns
Pōhiva said there were other things he was concerned about towards the two ministers but he did not reveal them.

It appeared the dismissals did not go through cabinet before they were made, as they shocked some of the ministers who only found about the decision from Kaniva News on Saturday morning.

It appeared Pōhiva did not approach Lavemaau and Sovaleni about their dismissals and the Prime Minister did not say whether he had proof the ministers knew about the plan to dissolve Parliament.

The two dismissed cabinet members reportedly said they knew nothing about their dismissals.

Dr Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa, who was appointed as replacement Minister of Finance, did not know about his appointment.

He said he only knew about it from Kaniva News and he had not received any message about it.

Pōhiva confirmed on Sunday night he had also appointed Lord Ma’afu as Deputy Prime Minister and oasi Tei to the MEIDECC.

Lord Ma’afu told Radio New Zealand he was unaware of his appointment and the reshuffle.

Pōhiva said he would not appoint new ministers from outside cabinet after the dismissals of Sovaleni and Lavemaau.

Acting Attorney-General ‘Aminiasi Kefu told the radio Pōhiva still held the power to dismiss any of his ministers while the government was in caretaker mode.

• More Tongan crisis stories

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva has fired Deputy Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni and Finance Minister Tēvita Lavemaau, says a cabinet spokesperson.

It is understood Sovaleni and Lavemaau were dismissed effective from yesterday at 5pm.

Pōhiva was “very disappointed” with the ministers, the spokesperson said today.

The ministers were allegedly involved in a conspiracy which led to King Tupou VI’s decision to dissolve Parliament and order a fresh general election in November to replace the current MPs and cabinet.

Lord Maʻafu has been appointed the new Deputy Prime Minister while Poasi Tei took over Sovaleniʻs Ministry of MEIDECC.

Dr Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa is the new Minister of Finance.

The dismissals came after state-owned Tongan Broadcasting Commission (TBC) news producer Viola Ulakai asked Pōhiva during a press conference in Nukuʻalofa on Tuesday whether it was true some of his ministers were being investigated.

Investigation denied
The caretaker Prime Minister denied this. Pōhiva said he was satisfied and calm. All the ministers were still in cabinet.

Ulakai told Pōhiva his son-in-law, Police Minister Māteni Tapueluelu, had told TBC News some ministers had been investigated.

Pōhiva said if anything would come up it will be “dealt with accordingly”.

Sovaleni and Lavemaau have been contacted by Kaniva News for comment.

Justice Minister questions Speaker role
Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice has told Kaniva News there was no clause in the Tongan Constitution which said the king could dissolve Parliament on the advice of the Speaker.

Minister Sione Vuna Fā’otusia said this meant there was room to challenge in court the involvement of the Speaker in the decision.

King Tupou VI dissolved Parliament after he had received a recommendation from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Lord Tu’ivakanō, who was Prime Minister before  ‘Akilisi Pohiva.

Acting Attorney-General Aminiasi Kefu had said the decision to dissolve Parliament was part of the king’s royal prerogatives and it could not be challenged in court.

However, Fā’otusia disagreed and said the decision by the king, based on a recommendation from the Speaker, was not a royal prerogative, but was statutory.

“The Acting Attorney-General does not think so. But I think that there is a ground for judicial review as the decision was not royal prerogative, but statutory,” Fāʻotusia told Kaniva News.

“There is nothing in the constitution to allow the king to dissolve the house based on the recommendation of the Speaker.”

Tongan news is republished by Asia Pacific Report with the permission of Kaniva News.

• More Tongan news

The government of dismissed democracy Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva has been urged to take legal actions against King Tupou VI’s decision to dissolve Parliament, with a former political adviser to government disagreeing with the Acting Attorney-General’s claim the royal order could not be challenged in court.

Lōpeti Senituli, who was also a former government CEO, was responding to a request from Kaniva News today about a post he made on Facebook last night saying:

“If I had a say in matters, I would advise the Hon Prime Minister to seek an immediate injunction and the judicial review of His Majesty’s proclamation. God Bless Tonga!”

The rest of his response is published verbatim below:

Advice for an injunction
“I stand by my opinion that the Hon Prime Minister and Cabinet should apply to the Supreme Court for an immediate injunction on the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly and for a judicial review of His Majesty’s proclamation to ensure that it is constitutional.

“I say that with the greatest of respect to the Acting Attorney-General and his opinion that His Majesty had exercised his Personal Royal Prerogative which he says is beyond judicial scrutiny.

“I disagree with the Acting Attorney-General. The basis of my disagreement is the decision of the Supreme Court in 2016, (which was later endorsed on appeal by the Privy Council in 2016) relating to His Majesty’s decision to appoint the current Chief of Defence Staff of His Majesty’s Armed Forces to the Hereditary Noble title of Lord Fielakepa.

“The Supreme Court declared His Majesty’s appointment as null and void. Part of their reasoning was that although it was His Majesty’s Personal Royal Prerogative to appoint Nobles of the Realm, he still had to make those appointments according to the law (the Land Act) and the Constitution.

“So I agree that His Majesty in dissolving the Legislative Assembly was using his Personal Royal Prerogative, and is not required by the Constitution or any law to disclose reasons. However, it is my opinion His Majesty must use that Personal Royal Prerogative according to the letter and the spirit of the constitution and laws of the land.

“The Legislative Assembly is the highest democratic mechanism in the Kingdom of Tonga and the current structure was adopted after the reforms in 2010 with the full approval of His Majesty’s predecessor.

“The functioning of the Legislative Assembly therefore should only be disturbed or interfered with in extreme circumstances where the sovereignty and integrity of the country as an independent nation state is being threatened.

“I do not regard the eight reasons that the Hon Speaker had released as good enough to warrant the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. They do not amount to a threat to the nation’s sovereignty and integrity as an independent state

“I classify the Hon Speaker’s eight reasons into two groups. The first group I have classified as:

Alleged threats to His Majesty’s Royal Prerogatives.
“The draft Bill to review or amend clause 41 of the Constitution which grants His Majesty’s authority to assent to all legislation adopted by the Legislative Assembly before they become law.

“The government’s earlier plans to sign and ratify CEDAW thereby bypassing His Majesty’s authority under clause 39 to make treaties and sign conventions on behalf of the country
The government’s earlier signing of the PACER Plus agreement which is a regional convention without prior authorisation by His Majesty in accordance with clause 39.
The draft Bill to amend the Constitution to remove His Majesty’s authority (clause 31A) to appoint the Attorney General and to appoint the Police Commissioner (under the Police Act) and transfer these powers to the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

“In my view the draft Bills that the Hon Speaker referred to should be allowed to be tabled and discussed by the Legislative Assembly and if necessary the Legislative Assembly should conduct public and community meetings to discuss these proposals so that the whole country can express an opinion on it.

“Dissolving the Legislative Assembly because of the fear of these alleged threats to His Majesty’s Prerogative is an extreme knee-jerk reaction of people who are afraid of the democratic process! We should let the people hear and express their opinion on these proposals through their elected representatives in the Legislative Assembly as well as in public meetings on these proposals.

“In respect of CEDAW and PACER Plus, Hon Prime Minister Pohiva and Cabinet acted in accordance with legal advice it was given by legally qualified people in government. (I know this because I was responsible for the CEDAW initiative.)

“If that advice clashed with advice given by His Majesty than that can be resolved by going to court for a declaration as to which advice is correct. It does not warrant dissolving the Legislative Assembly.

“The second group of reasons I have classified as:

Mismanagement by Hon Prime Minister and Cabinet
“Lying to the Legislative Assembly that Hon Etuate Lavulavu would be punished and not delivering on it.

“Misleading the Leg Ass on the Pacific Games 2019 and continuing to collect the foreign exchange levy though hosting the Games had been cancelled.

“Raising their own salaries in response to a tax increase whilst the rest of the country carry the extra tax burden.

“Petitions of impeachment not worth of the Legislative Assembly’s time and resources.

This second group of reasons I regard as specious. These could have been dealt with by the Hon Speaker as he has considerable powers under the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Assembly and under the Constitution (clause 70) to punish members who behave in contempt of the Legislative Assembly.

They certainly do not warrant the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly!”

Kaniva News items are republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

• More Tongan political crisis stories

The Speaker of Tonga’s Legislative Assembly has broken his silence and delivered a statement on air detailing what advice he offered King Tupou VI before the monarch dissolved Parliament.

As Kaniva News reported, the surprise dissolution last Thursday followed an approach by the Speaker, Lord Tu’ivakanō, to King Tupou VI and a decision made by the Privy Council.

According to the government gazette, fresh elections must be held by November 16.

Acting Attorney-General ‘Aminiasi Kefu said the king’s decision to dissolve Parliament was part of his royal prerogative and could not be challenged in court.

Kefu said when the king proclaimed such a royal command he was not required, according to the constitution, to explain it.

The royal command left the public in a state of limbo with many wanting to know why the king had made such a surprise decision.

However, it is understood the Speaker went public with the grievances he presented to the king on the Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC).

Speaker’s grievances posted
Former political advisor and government CEO Lōpeti Senituli has posted the Speaker’s grievances in English on Facebook.

The Lord Speaker said he was concerned “that a Bill had been submitted to the Office of the Speaker that seeks to amend the Constitution so as to revoke His Majesty’s right of assent to legislation approved by the Legislative Assembly before it could become law.

“That the intent of the Bill is in keeping with the Cabinet’s earlier plans to bypass His Majesty’s prerogative to sign treaties and conventions entrenched in clause 39 of the Constitution when they tried to sign and ratify CEDAW without His Majesty’ prior approval.

“That Cabinet had also become party to PACER Plus without His Majesty’s prior approval.

“That another Bill had also been submitted to the Office of the Speaker that seeks to amend the Constitution so as to remove His Majesty in Privy Council’s right to appoint crucial positions such as the Police Commissioner and the Attorney-General.

“That Hon Prime Minister [‘Akilisi] Pōhiva had intervened and prevented the Legislative Assembly from sanctioning former Cabinet Minister Etuate Lavulavu for abuse of office on the understanding that he would punish him instead. It later became apparent that he did not punish Lavulavu as promised.

“That several petitions have been submitted to the Office of the Speaker that seek to impeach various members of the Legislative Assembly and the Speaker feels spending time on these petitions would be a waste of time and resources.

“That Cabinet had deliberately misled the Legislative Assembly regarding the hosting of the Pacific Games in 2019 and after the legislation was passed authorising the collection of the foreign exchange levy tax in order to fund it, Cabinet cancelled the hosting of the Games and yet they continued to collect this tax.

“That Cabinet had recently approved a 5 percent salary increase for all ministers in response to a recent increase in income tax, yet the tax increase applies to the whole country, especially all the civil servants and people in private enterprises.”

• More stories on the Tongan political crisis

For Australian observers of the unfolding crisis in Tonga, there are inescapable parallels between the events of August 25, 2017, and November 11, 1975.

Shortly after lunch on that November day, Australians learned that the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, had sacked the Labor government of Gough Whitlam.

Parliament was dissolved and after an often violent election campaign, Labor was defeated, but the bitterness engendered by The Dismissal, as it became known, left a permanent stain on Australian politics.

Like King Tupou VI, the Australian Governor-General was acting legally and within the powers granted to him by the constitution.

However, his action was seen by many Australians as an unwanted interference in the democratic process.

Kerr was the representative of Australia’s Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, and conspiracy theorists claimed that the dismissal was part of a royal plot.

Others claimed that Kerr was working for the CIA and it emerged long after Kerr’s death that during the political crisis leading up to the dismissal on November 11, 1975, he had met regularly with the head of the CIA station in Sydney.

Political visionary
Like Tongan dismissed Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva, Whitlam was a visionary who swept into power on a tide of popular approval in 1972, fought and won a second election in 1974 and overturned decades of rule by conservative politicians who were often criticised for acting as if they thought they had a right to rule.

Whitlam introduced new rules that brought greater equality and freedom to Australians, introduced free tertiary education, supported the arts, strengthened Australian’s sense of pride and national identity, gave proper recognition to Aboriginal Australians and supported the campaign for women’s rights.

But for all his achievements, his government was fatally damaged by Whitlam’s inability to control his cabinet, catastrophic misjudgements of public opinion and major errors of judgment on international issues.

He was accused of sometimes acting as if he was the only member of the government and was blamed for the deterioration of the Australian economy in the wake of the global oil crisis.

Whitlam left Parliament after a series of defeats by Liberal Party leader Malcolm Fraser, who had engineered the 1975 political crisis by refusing to pass the Whitlam government’s budget.

Fraser left Parliament after he was defeated by Labor’s Bob Hawke. In the years that followed, the enmity between Fraser and Whitlam cooled and they became political allies on a number of causes, particularly the push to make Australia a republic.

The dismissal of the Whitlam government by the Governor-General in 1975 strengthened the support for a republic among many Australians who felt angry that a royal representative could interfere in their country’s political life.

Dr Philip Cass is an Auckland media academic and adviser to Kaniva News. He is also a research associate of the Pacific Media Centre.

• Other Tongan crisis stories

King Tupou VI has proclaimed ʻAkilisi Pōhiva’s cabinet will continue on as Tonga’s caretaker government, which will run the kingdom until after the upcoming general election in November.

The Lord Chamberlain made the announcement yesterday.

“His Majesty commanded that new representatives of nobles and the people to be elected to enter the Legislative Assembly at elections to be held in no later than November 16,″ the Lord Chamberlain said in a statement.

“Until those elections take place, the present government will continue as caretaker government.

“During this time, the administration of government services, especially Health and Education services to the people, should remain a priority”.

Pōhiva and his cabinet were dismissed on Friday after King Tupou VI had dissolved Parliament.

NZ troops in Tonga come home
Meanwhile, the New Zealand SAS troops in Tonga will be brought home as soon as possible, the New Zealand government announced.

A group of 20 SAS soldiers are in Tonga, where the Prime Minister has suddenly been dismissed by the King.

Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee told The New Zealand Herald the troops were there for a routine exercise, and yesterday confirmed they would be pulled out of the country as soon as possible.

“Rather than continuing on to do their scheduled training exercise, we’ve concluded this is a time for Tonga to have some clear air, uncomplicated by the coincidental presence of NZDF personnel in the country.”

Pōhiva to stand again
ʻAkilisi Pōhiva plans to run for Parliament again in the November election, his son and personal assistant Poʻoi Pōhiva confirmed to Kaniva News.

The dissolution of the Parliament came after the king was advised by his Privy Council and the Speaker of Parliament.

In an interview with Pōhiva three years ago, the long-time democratic veteran campaigner said he would stand for election one last time in the 2014 general election.

The revelation of Pōhiva’s plan could give his great number of supporters in the kingdom and abroad a sense of relief, after many of them were devastated by his dismissal.

Po’oi Pōhiva did not give further details about his father’s plan but most of ‘Akilisi’s supporters had called on him to stand again for Parliament since his dismissal.

His supporters do not believe there were solid reasons for the king to dismiss the people’s first elected Prime Minister.

The Privy Council has yet to give any reasons why it made the surprising royal command.

ʻAkilisi Pōhiva’s supporters have questioned the Privy Council and the Speaker of the House over their advice to dissolve Parliament given they were only elected to their positions by the king and the only 33 members of the nobility.

• NZ troops to be brought home
• Other Tongan crisis stories

By Philip Cass in Auckland

There was disappointment and fears of violence early today in the aftermath of King Tupou IV’s dismissal of Tongan Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee said the possibility of civil unrest was a concern.

A leading Tongan academic said last night there was “a very real fear of violence” following the dismissal of Pohiva.

Dr Malakai Koloamatangi, Pasifika director at Massey University, said Pohiva had a lot of support among the people of Tonga.

Dr Koloamatangi told TVNZ last night that while the kingdom had been moving towards a more democratic government, King Tupou IV’s dismissal of the Prime Minister was ”highly unusual”.

Radio New Zealand described the move as the downfall of Pohiva and noted that his government had been marred by controversy and allegations of incompetence.

As Kaniva News reported yesterday afternoon, the dismissal followed an approach by the Speaker of Parliament to King Tupou VI and a decision made by the Privy Council.

According to the government gazette, fresh elections must be held by November 16.

High hopes for change
Former parliamentarian Dr Sitiveni Halapua said the people had high hopes for Pohiva’s government, but had not seen any real fruits from the democratic change.

“It’s a great disappointment all round,” Dr Halapua said.

Tongan publisher Kalafai Moala said the King’s decision was a setback for democracy, but told Agence France-Presse the dismissal had support.

“Pohiva has a core of supporters and they’re out there on social media expressing disappointment,” he said.

“But I think most people are happy and felt like this had been coming for some time.”

Meanwhile, Brownlee said New Zealand SAS troops that were in the kingdom were confined to barracks.

He said it was a complete coincidence the troops were in the kingdom.

Brownlee told The New Zealand Herald the government had had no indication the royal intervention was coming.

“We will be trying to work out over the next couple of days what it is going to mean for democracy in Tonga and what the implications will be for New Zealand,” he said.

Dr Philip Cass is an Auckland media academic and adviser to Kaniva News. He is also a research associate of the Pacific Media Centre.

• Tongan king sacks democracy PM
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Acting Attorney-General ‘Aminiasi Kefu has confirmed the royal command.

The Crown Law website said King Tupou VI made the decision after he had received advice from the Speaker, Lord Tu’ilakepa.

The announcement was made on the Crown Law website yesterday afternoon.

As Kaniva News reported earlier yesterday, when the Prime Minister’s Office was contacted and some noble MPs for confirmation, they said they were unaware of the dissolution decision.

The announcement:

WE, TUPOU VI, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, OF TONGA, KING:

HAVING CONSIDERED Advice from the Lord Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and

HAVING REGARD to Clauses 38 and 77(2) of The Act of Constitution of Tonga (Cap. 2) DO lawfully dissolve the Legislative Assembly with effect from Thursday 24 August 2017 at 1700 hours and DO Command that new Representatives of the Nobles and People be elected to enter the Legislative Assembly at Elections to be held no later than 16 November 2017.

DONE by Us at Nuku’alofa, this Twenty Fourth day of August in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Seventeen and in this the Sixth Year of Our Reign.

An earlier Kaniva News report said:

The Members of Parliament were told this morning to return home as the House was closed down for the rest of this term.

The Prime Minister’s Office was unaware of any decision the King has dismissed the Prime Minister, a spokesperson from the Office told Kaniva News.

She said the Office was inquiring and would release a statement soon.

Reports on social media this afternoon cited Tangata Pasifika correspondent John Pulu as saying the King had “dissolved” Parliament and “dismissed” Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva.

But Pulu told Kaniva News “ I am still waiting on official word from Tonga – will keep you posted…”

Lord Tu’iakepa has confirmed they were told tto go home but when he was told it had been reported the King had dissolved the Legislative Assembly he said they have yet to receive any official statement about it.

“Ko e tala mai pe ia ke mau foki ki ‘api ‘e tapuni e Fale Alea ki he ta’u ni ko ia pe,” Tu’ilakepa said. (Translated: “We were told to go home the Parliament will be closed down for this year that’s it”.)

Lord Tu’ilakepa was unaware of any decision to dismiss Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva.

A lady in Parliament said the Chief Clerk and the Speaker were in a meeting.

When she was told that Kaniva News wanted to talk to one of them she hung up the phone.

The New Zealand Herald reported that 20 New Zealand SAS troops were in Tonga for a “routine exercise”.

• King of Tonga dismisses prime minister as Kiwi SAS troops in country

Radio New Zealand International’s presenter of Dateline Pacific, Don Wiseman, has suggested Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva’s son read the New Zealand broadcaster’s website more carefully before accusing it of media bias.

This comes after an attack on the region’s media by Siosiua Po’oi Pohiva, who acts as his father’s personal assistant.

In a press release, the prime minister’s personal assistant demanded journalists critical of his father’s government apologise to King Tupou VI and the Tongan people.

Siosiua singled out RNZI, Taimi o Tonga and publisher Kalafi Moala, Pacific Freedom Forum head Monica Miller and Pacific Islands News Association’ Moses Stevens for their coverage and comments on the removal of former Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) General Mananger Nanise Fifita.

Wiseman, who is also RNZI’s deputy news editor, said he found Siosiua’s version of events “extraordinarily partial”.

“There are a number of statements from your father and other people that you have chosen ignore. I think a more thorough read of our website will help,” he said.

Fifita’s removal has been widely seen by the Pacific media as being the result of Prime Minister Pohiva’s feud with the TBC over what he perceives as biased reporting against his government.

Tongan integrity ‘damaged’
Siosiua has painted those who have been critical of the removal of Fifita as being aligned with the government’s enemies.

He said they should also apologise to his father and the Tongan government “for the damage they had caused on Tonga’s integrity”.

“Journalists and media groups in Tonga, New Zealand and the Pacific region began attacking the prime minister and his government, accusing them of threatening media freedom in Tonga,” he said.

“Those who were pro-establishment and who did not support the democratic reforms led by ‘Akilisi Pohiva are now those of who are against the new government and its new administration.”

Siosiua accused the prime minister’s critics of using the issue of media freedom to increase their profits and help their friends in the TBC.

In his press release, Siosiua referred to Lord Chief Justice Paulsen’s findings on Fifita’s application for a judicial review. The review examined the Minister of Public Enterprise’s declaration that her reappointment was void and the notice of TBC advising her of that decision.

Siosiua quoted Lord Chief Justice Paulsen as saying her reappointment was void because it required the minister’s approval, which was never obtained.

Sympathy for Fifita
However, as Kaniva News reported at the time, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen also said he had considerable sympathy for Fifita.

“She has, by all accounts, been an excellent employee,” he said.

The judge described her as “a long term, loyal and able servant of TBC” who had been general manager since October 2008.

In his report on the case, the judge said he made no comment as to whether she might still have remedies available to her in respect of any failings of the board of TBC to obtain the minister’s approval to her reappointment.

Dr Philip Cass is a research associate with the Pacific Media Centre and associate editor of Pacific Journalism Review. He is a senior lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology and is a regular contributor for Kaniva Tonga.

• Former TBC head loses Supreme Court case over dismissal from top job
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It is just under a year since the Tongan government assured the Pacific Games Council that it was fully committed to hosting the 2019 Games.

But the Tongan government said this week it would stand by its decision to not host the regional sporting event.

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva made the announcement during a meeting with Pacific Games Council president Vidhya Lakhan.

Lakhan asked for a meeting with the government to see whether it would change its mind about withdrawing from the Games.

Pohiva asked the PGC to endorse the government’s decision and to consider having another country host the 2019 Games.

Samoa has already lodged a submission to host the Games in place of Tonga.

In reiterating the government’s decision, the Prime Minister once again cited economic reasons as the basis for withdrawing.

He based his original shock decision on a 2013 report on the consequences of holding the Games.

During the meeting with Lakhan, Pohiva said there were more important matters in Tonga which needed the government’s attention.

In late June 2016, Lakhan and PGC executive director Andrew Minogue flew to Nuku’alofa to assess the state of preparations for Tonga’s hosting of the 2019 Pacific Games.

During the visit the Tongan government expressed its full support for hosting the 2019 Pacific Games.

Lakhan also received extensive briefings from the staff of the Tongan Pacific Games Organising Committee on the development of the sports and marketing programmes.

“The Pacific Games Council is pleased the Prime Minister is now involved in overseeing the Tongan government’s commitment to hosting the 2019 Pacific Games and providing the necessary facilities and funding support to stage a successful Games,” Lakhan said after the PGC visit in 2016.

Dr Philip Cass is a journalist and media academic contributing to Kaniva News. This article is republished with permission.

• Lakhan visit Tonga on update for 2019 Pacific Games
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