Keeping the peace in a one House parliament [1]
Saturday, September 30, 2000 - 09:00. Updated on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 - 18:10.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 15, no. 3, September 2000.
Hon. Veikune, the Speaker of the Tongan Legislative Assembly, first entered Parliament in 1975 as one of two Noble’s representatives for Vava‘u.
He is the title-holder of a large estate in the village of Longomapu in the west of Vava’u, and also has estates in Tongatapu. During his 22 years in the House, Hon. Veikune has served as Chairman of the Whole House Committee, and at times as Acting Speaker, and last year was appointed by the King as the new Speaker.
Recently he has taken part in a regional seminar on Parliamentary democracy, and here comments on the stability of the Tongan parliamentary system, as seen from the nobility’s viewpoint.
Pesi Fonua: Looking at what is happening in Fiji, where with the support of Fijian chiefs a group of rebels were able to overthrow a government. Is it possible for this kind of thing to take place in Tonga?
Hon. Veikune: My personal belief is that nothing of that sort will ever happen here. If we look at both Ha’amoa and Fisi, in their history there was no final civil war to determine who was the national hero to lead the country. But with us, after years of civil wars, Taufa’ahau emerged victorious and all the Ha’a (clans) unanimously agreed to crown him as the first king of modern Tonga. Therefore I do not foresee the possibility of Tongan chiefs standing up against His Majesty’s government.
If Tongan chiefs did not hold a prominent place in Tongan politics, with their reserved nine seats in parliament, do you think it would be possible for a similar opposition to government to take place here, as it was in Fiji?
I don’t think it will ever happen here, because of our direct involvement in Tongan politics. There is a clause in the constitution, which states that we, the nobles, are responsible for the declaration of who would be the King of Tonga. For example, if the current line of succession to the Tongan throne were to come to an end, with no legal heir to the Throne, the constitution declares that the nobles of the realm, should meet and select among themselves who should be king.
In Fiji they have what they call the Council of Chiefs, but in Tonga we have the Privy Council. Section 17 of the constitution states that His Majesty has to carry his responsibility without favouritism, but according to the law and the Constitution of Tonga. Therefore, we, the nobles, have complete faith in His Majesty’s selection of his Ministers as being fair, and it is all with the ultimate objective for the advancement of the people of Tonga. If we look at the members of the Cabinet and the Privy Council, I think there are only four or five nobles in the executive, and the rest are Commoners. So those of us who are not in the executive have faith that nobles who are in the executive will represent our interests there for us.
His Majesty Taufa’ahau Tupou IV made an interesting comment in 1970 after Tonga re-entered the comity of nations. He said that among the constitutional governments of the world, the Tongan constitution was the third oldest in the world. The first in 1797 for the USA, then Canada in 1867, and Tonga in 1875. The clause about the responsibility of the nobles to appoint a new King if there is no legal heir to the Tongan throne, has been in existence ever since.
A suggestion that has been voiced by some of the People’s Representatives, is for the people to elect the Nobles’ Representatives to parliament. What is your view on that idea, and if it comes about, do you think it will have any impact on the involvement of nobles in Tongan politics?
It is always an enlightening exercise to divulge in Tupou I’s process of formulating Tonga’s modern form of government. On how he structured a parliament with only one House, made up of Cabinet Ministers whom he appointed, the nobles who look after the land, and Representatives of the People. They meet under one roof to make decisions for the advancement of the country. There are no political parties, as there are in our neighbouring countries. Our constitution and the structure of our government has been with us for over 120 years, so we just can’t change it overnight. The moment the nobles are on very good terms with each other, which is in line with a clause in the constitution that stressed that we should be in harmony with each other for ever.
It is argued that the people should select the Nobles’ Representatives to the Tongan parliament, because the nobles are supposed to be in the House to represent the people, so it is most appropriate for the people to select their Nobles’ Representatives to the House. Do you think there is any truth in this line of thinking?
No, I don’t believe that, because People’s Representatives were allowed to enter the House only in 1914. Prior to that the House was known only as the meeting house of the chiefs, but because of the concern for the maintaining of peace, and the working in co-operation among all Tongans, it was decided to bring representatives of the people into the House.
It has been said that the Tongan parliament is not accountable to the people as it is in democratic countries, but to the King. As the Speaker of the House, what is your opinion on that?
We all have a different interpretation of the word Democracy, but my own interpretation is that Tonga is a democratic country. My reasoning is that because the decision-making processes in all the high level bodies in this country are decided with a show of hands, we have a democratic form of government. In Privy Council, decisions are approved by ballot. In Cabinet it is the same, and also in parliament, so I believe that under a democratic system, the majority rules.
During the past few years, the People’s Representatives moved a motion for government to draft a Bill to make it possible for the establishment of an opposition political party. There was a fierce debate about it in the House. I was against it. I asked what was the motive for the formation of an opposition party in Tonga: to build up the country or to destroy the country? It became evident that there was a desire to have power and authority. There was a move for His Majesty to give away some of his authority and to remain only as a figure-head, so the intention was to have political power, similar to what is happening in Australia and New Zealand.
My personal view is that we are still better off where we are, with the King having the authority to pick his ministers, it is better for us.
With regards to other leading positions in the House such as the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee, which traditionally have always been held by Nobles’ Representatives. Is there legislation or parliamentary policy spelling out that that is how things should be?
According to the Constitution and the Legislative Assembly Act, it is a prerogative of the King to choose the Speaker of the House from any one of the elected Nobles’ Representatives. The Chairman of the Whole House Committee traditionally has always been one of the Nobles’ Representatives, but there was a period of two years when People’s Representatives, Teisina Fuko and Laki Niu, became Chairmen of the Whole House Committee with the approval of the House. So it has happened for the Chairman of the Whole House Committee to be elected from the People’s Representatives, but not yet with the Speaker of the House.
You are a long-time member of the Tongan parliament and have attended parliamentary conferences overseas. I don’t think there is any other parliament in the world like ours. Do you foresee any likely changes to the composition of the Tongan parliament?
I will be going to an international conference in New York, the first conference of Speakers from all parliaments of the world. I will speak, and my topic will be “The Tongan Parliamentary System, the one house system”, and I don’t think there is any other country in the world with such a system.
With the Tongan system of government do think it can be copied or adopted by any other countries in the region or in the world?
The difficult thing would be, say Fiji, for example. If they want to adopt our system, the difficult choice is that that they must agree for one of them to be their leader. It is easier for us because we have all agreed and respect Taufa’ahau Tupou IV to be our King, and besides that he is carrying out his responsibilities in accordance with the Tongan Constitution. I think it is going to be very difficult for our neighbouring countries to adopt our system, unless they agree for one of them to be their leader.
With regards to the House at the beginning of this century. Is there any new approach or working program that you are working on?
There is nothing new, we are just following our daily working routine.
It has been reported that for the first time ever, an audited financial report of the House was presented to the House this year.
That requirement is stated in the Rules of Proceeding of the House. The idea for a financial report to be presented to the House was introduced by a former Member of Parliament, ‘Uhila Liava’a. He moved that it should be part of the working policy of the House for the Speaker and the Clerk to present a monthly financial report to the House. It was approved by the House in 1993, but has never been done. When I became Speaker last year some members asked for it and that is why I presented it to the House this year, because that is what is stated in our Rules of Proceeding.
‘Eseta Fusitu‘a, from the Prime Minister’s office, has stated that the salaries of the Members of Parliament are as high as $60,000 per annum. Some members of Parliament disputed this figure. Who do you think is right?
My personal opinion is that with the different levels of salaries, ‘Eseta is right, but with those levels, not all Members of Parliament are entitled to every year. The levels, which are definite are the basic salaries, daily allowance, rent allowance, transport allowance, and travelling allowance. Those are the basic figures that total up to make the annual salaries of the members of parliament, the other level of entitlement, is rarely available to members. It is rarely that a member is entitled to the 13 level (sources) of income. Like this year, we will send away the Vava’u No. 2 People’s Representative, Koliniasi Afuha’amango, for medical treatment overseas, but for the whole of this year, maybe only Koli will receive that privilege. It is not possible that all the 29 members of the House will be all sent away overseas for medical treatment. The same thing applies to members who will be travelling overseas, some will travel this year but not everyone will have that privilege.
With regards to hereditary noble titles. What is your view on cases where nobles do not have a male heir. Why isn’t possible for a woman to hold a hereditary noble title?
As it stands at the moment, with regards to the succession to the Tongan Throne, it is possible for a woman to become a queen, as was the case with Her Majesty, the late Queen Salote. With regards to the nobles and the rest of the people, in their succession to titles and tax allotments it has to go through only the male line. I think this is only because it has not been raised, but that would be a good issue for the House to debate on. In the case of a couple who have a daughter but not a son, the daughter is entitled to her father’s estate until she remarries someone else, then the estate will go back either to the Crown or to a male heir to the noble title. On the other hand a number of noble titles are currently running through the female line because the male lines came to an end with no male heir.
Can you give me a brief description of the basic role of the nobles in Tongan society and in government?
In the certificate that is given to nobles when they are appointed by the king, there is a clause that reads, that it is the hope of His Majesty that nobles will look after the people and make sure that there is peace in the land, and that the community abides by the law and the Constitution of Tonga. One of the wishes of His Majesty is for us to fulfil our responsibilities by maintaining peace in the land, and we can do that by abiding by the law and the Constitution of Tonga. So basically those are our basic responsibilities.
In modern day Tonga, are there changes in the relationship between the noble and his Kainga (extended family) with regards to traditional obligations and responsibilities?
On the event of the 45th anniversary of the Tonga High School the king was going to preach a sermon to mark the occasion, but he was ill and so Baron Vaea preached instead. In Vaea’s sermon he said that in ancient times when it was said that people worked as slaves to the chiefs, it did not mean that it was the same kind of slavery that we understand today. What was considered slavery in ancient Tonga was really a traditional obligation that had to be fulfilled by all Tongans to the Tu’i Tonga. Then in 1862, Siaosi Tupou I emancipated all Tongans from their obligation to the chiefs, but if somebody wanted to continue it was their free choice. I found that comment by Baron Vaea very interesting, and even today nobles are still living in harmony with their people, and it was a pleasant sight, for example, during His Majesty’s birthday, to see a noble with his people coming to pay tribute to the King.
There was a story I heard that on one occasion in the House, a Nobles’ Representative moved a motion to increase the salaries of the nobles because he said the nobles have a lot of traditional obligations to the King. Our present King, at the time was a Member of Parliament, and he queried if the noble’s obligation was dictated by law or if it was out of his own free choice. He said that if it was dictated by law, then he supported the motion, but if it was from his own free choice then he disagreed with the motion.
The situation now is that whenever a noble informs the people of a traditional obligation, the people are very willing to contribute, they are still very keen to maintain that good relationship between them, and their chiefs and their King.
There may be good relationships, but a point that has been raised is that nobles are losing their influence with their people because most of their estates have been distributed to the people, as demanded by law, therefore their influence is trickling away. Is there any truth in that?
No, I don’t believe that, and I will just use myself as an example. My relationship with my kainga (relatives) from Longoteme is very good, and the reason for that is that no one from outside of Longoteme owns land in Longoteme. Only people with blood connections to Longoteme own land in Longoteme, and I think it is the same with other nobles and their kainga, and that is one reason why the bonds between the chiefs and their people remain strong. If, for example, I were to take a tax allotment in Longoteme and give it to somebody from Vaini, that is the kind of decision that could cause an unfriendly relationship, and keep the chiefs and his kainga apart. But if we keep to what has been spelled out in the certificate that was given to us when we were given our noble titles, to maintain peace in the community by abiding by the law and the Constitution of Tonga, if we will keep things that way, our constitution will last another 100 years and nothing will really disrupt our life here in Tonga.
How do the nobles in urban centres such as Ma’ufanga solve the land distribution problem? Are they doing it the same way as you do with Longoteme. How do they do it?
There are nobles who are very close with their Town Officers and District Officers. The nobles in Tongatapu for example will not know the people who come from the rest of Tonga to live in Tongatapu. Only the Town and District Officers would know, and they are the ones who would present their case to the noble, informing him that so and so is looking for a piece of land. If the noble then thinks it is possible to give them a piece of land then he would give them a piece of land, with peace in the community still the priority.
The distribution of land by the nobles must be the most difficult task that they are facing today.
Yes, because less land is left for distribution, and there is a lot of internal migration.
Is there a formal policy on how nobles go about distributing land?
The law of course states that town allotment should not be less than 30 poles, and no bigger than 1 rood 24 poles. If it is hereditary land there is an understanding between the noble and the land owner that the land will be distributed to the sons of the land owner first, and if there is any left over then it will be given to someone else who is a willing participant in village affairs.
Do you foresee any change in the process of distributing land?
I think it was 1984 when His Majesty established the Land Commission, and members of this Commission went out and held discussions with people about any concerns that they had about the land. I heard that a report had been compiled and it was presented to the Privy Council, but apparently there were a few things to be ironed out, and that is where it is. There were a number of issues that were addressed by the Land Commission, such as a proposal to reduce the size of tax allotments from eight to four acres and the right of women to own hereditary land.
What is the working relationship between town and district officers and the nobles?
Town officers are elected by the people, but if one dies before election time then a replacement is appointed from the Prime Minister’s office to be acting until election.
How are village affairs administered by the nobles, town officers and village committees?
My personal experience with some of the working committees in my villages is that I remain to be an adviser and leave things for them to organise and run by themselves.
My role is that if there is anything they want in connection with government, or with foreign aid donors then I become involved, but there is a good working relationship between the nobles, town officers and the people.
In other countries they have town and city councils that are responsible for the cleaning up of the towns, and other community activities. Do you think there is a need to upgrade the administration of the town and villages?
That is really how it is administered at the moment, with each village trying to improve their life. But the nobles do not want to interfere and push their own interests simply because they are the noble of the village, but if the town officer and the village committees need help and advice then the nobles will get involved.
What is your opinion with regards to the pigs in the villages. Some people think it is absolutely disgusting to allow pigs to roam freely around the villages, what is your view on the pig issue?
There is a law, regulating the keeping of animals in the main centres of Nuku’alofa, Neiafu, Pangai and ‘Ohonua, and there is also a law outlining the right of the police to destroy these animals. But one thing that we should look at is that pigs are one animal that we use a lot for both traditional and religious events. There has been a move to erect ‘A fonua, to fence off the residential area in a village from the bush area where people grow their gardens, keeping the pigs away from their gardens, but then pigs destroy the homes. So really the best that could be done is for village committees to encourage people to build pig pens in the town where they keep their pigs.