Results for politics

Tongan politics are in turmoil after a letter for a motion for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, Hon. Dr Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa, was tabled into parliament a day before the House closed its 2020 session on 10 December. Details of the letter have emerged, raising seven concerns. From the House by Pesi Fonua.

New York Times reporting: After eight years of talks, China and 14 other nations from Japan to New Zealand to Myanmar on Sunday formally signed one of the world’s largest regional free trade agreements, a pact shaped by Beijing partly as a counterweight to U.S. influence in the region.

New York Times reporting: An indecisive U.S. presidential election hurtling toward legal challenges transfixed the world Wednesday, with viewers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere riveted by the pitched battle between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden and appalled by Trump’s demand to stop counting votes. By Mark Landler and Damien Cave.

Unlike the old superpower contest between the United States and the Soviet Union, the incipient cold war between China and the US does not reflect a fundamental conflict of unalterably opposed ideologies. Instead, today’s Sino-American rivalry is popularly portrayed as an epic battle between autocracy and democracy. ...The idea that we can choose only between freedom in an American-style democracy and order in a Chinese-style autocracy is false. The real aim of governance is to ensure pluralism with stability – and countries everywhere must find their own path to this goal. By Yuen Yuen Ang

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s landslide victory two days ago was consolidated by the successful election of many members of her parliament, including Tongan-born MP Jenny Salesa. By Finau Fonua.

Tonga’s Parliament passed the Foreign Investment Bill 2019 yesterday, 26 February with votes of 15-3, after a hot debate on whether or not to take into account the concerns of the Tonga Chamber of Commerce and the business community. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.

Tonga’s preparations to host the 2019 Pacific Games is in uproar after the Prime Minister's Office has called for the dismissal of Lord Sevele, the CEO and Chairman of Tonga's Pacific Games Organizing Committee, and the demand may now lead to Tonga losing the Games. The Pacific Games Council has not approved the proposal and has issued a warning to Tonga.

Joy and charity seem to be the normal “companions” of Christmas while greed and contention are regarded as the instinctive “mates” of politics. - Tamanomuka.

Tonga’s Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva Akilisi challenged world leaders to have moral commitment and moral courage to address climate change and global inequalities; and not be distracted by political priorities, when he made his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on 29 September. At the same time, he stated that his government was considering removing constraints to sustainable development “such as cultural perceptions and religious dogma.”