Results for 'Akilisi Pohiva

The Government of Tonga is dismissing accusations by a prominent Australian newspaper that China’s foreign aid is hurting Tonga’s economy. The news article claimed that many Tongans believe that they have been "sold out by the Tongan Government”.

Although Tonga's Cabinet was reported to be in a meeting, without the Prime Minister, throughout the morning, no one at the Prime Minister's Office is able to say right now who those members of the Cabinet are.

Tonga's Members of Parliament are currently on a 15-minutes break before they cast their vote in a secret ballet to elect Tonga's Prime Minister from two nominations read out this morning at Parliament House. Caretaker Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva and his former Deputy PM Siaosi Sovaleni are vying for the top job.

Lord Ma‘afu, named as Tonga's new Deputy Prime Minister this morning, has been Tonga's Acting Prime Minister since 1 September. The Prime Minister's Office today announced the backdating of new ministerial appointments. Uncertainty over who was in charge had left the Caretaker Government in a state of disarray, after the PM left for the Pacific Forum Leaders Meeting at the end of last week.

The dissolution of the Tongan Parliament by HM King Tupou VI on August 24 is a wake up call for Tongans to return their focus to Tonga's modern democratisation process. Since a move to speed up the democratic reform process was initiated in 2010, social and political progress has faltered in an increasingly unsettled and disruptive political environment. By Pesi Fonua

Please Prime Minister Pohiva, think again and do not harden your heart, because you are making a mockery of our Parliamentary system...you have Tongans and friends of Tonga with the archeological, cultural, environmental and engineering expertise and the hearts and minds to build our nation, please Prime Minister use them. You are destroying our environment and in the process destroying our very fragile “democracy” and our trust in you and this Government. -‘Ana Hau‘alofa‘ia Koloto

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of an application by the Public Service Association and ‘Akilisi Pohiva to recover further documents from defendants, Kingdom of Tonga and Tongasat, in an ongoing legal proceeding, in which they essentially claimed the unlawful payment of millions to Tongasat, for the use of orbital slots by a Chinese company.

Tonga's government is embarking on a reform program "to change people’s mind-sets", the Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva told a Press Conference that he called on March 29 at the Fa‘onelua Convention Centre in Nuku'alofa. He also said that government is preparing a bill that will allow district and town officers to appropriate "deserted" properties and clear them for community use.

An Indonesian diplomat said that Indonesia is “shocked” at six Pacific Islands governments, including Tonga, for accusing Indonesia of human rights violations in West Papua. Nara Masista Rakhmatia during a speech at the 1st Session of the General Assembly of the UN in New York on 24 September 2016 also accused PM Pohiva and other Pacific leaders of using the General Assembly to advance their domestic agendas and to divert attention from political and social problems at home.