Editor,
The proposed changes to the Constitution to take away the King's remaining powers and transfer it to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet is backwards and undemocratic.
In order for a democracy to function with its proper checks and balances, the three branches of government must operate independently and separately to protect the fundamental principles of democracy and integrity of a nation from falling into a dictatorship. Which will happen if the PM and his Cabinet will get their way with the proposed six bills in Parliament to push through their political agenda.
When the Executive branch propose laws to control the appointment of Judges, the Attorney General, the new office of the Public Prosecutor and Police Commissioner - what do we expect will happen?
The unintended consequences will be absolute power and authority in the hands of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. They control the appointments, they control their functions. This will be centralized power in the hands of one branch, the Executive - this is the exact opposite of democracy.
These changes will open the floodgates to more corruption, abuse of power, and an Executive branch drunk on power.
Consequently, this move intentionally usurps His Majesty's powers and ties his hands behind his back, while the Prime Minister and his Cabinet hijack his authority. The idea that the PM and his Cabinet dictates to the King who his advisers and appointments will be is stunning. This is an affront to the Constitution, the Monarchy and common sense Tongans who want a government that is truly accountable to the people and respect the democratic principles of separation of powers.
The King is the only independent figure with the highest authority that the majority of Tongans can count on to be fair and impartial.
The proposed changes to the Constitution is a Trojan Horse that deceives the people into believing this is part of democracy, while in fact it's a major power grab by the Prime Minister to set up a dictatorship to rule with unfettered powers.. Isn't this exactly what Prime Minister Pohiva railed against for so many decades - dictatorship?
Let us not go backwards but learn from the annals of history that "absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Faka'apa'ata atu,
'Ana Tausinga
