Dear Editor
I read about other's urgency to change the kingdom before the new king is crowned. Whether it is sooner or later, it will be the day history will judge us by how well we take care of the kingdom during our watch. On another note, one writer stated in his letter to the Editor, I have trouble recognising which side I am arguing for. Technically, I am an equal opportunity offender. I have argued for the Royal Family to convince the readers that our form of government is unique and worth saving. At the same time, I have pointed to their ruthless pillaging of the revenue generating infrastructures of the kingdom. Despite this, what we need is a fair-minded leader who has the kingdom's welfare as his foremost duty and responsibility. Our form of government is 130 years old. Something must be right about it to last this long. Despite its longevity, modification of the Constitution is now due.
On the other hand, I have lampooned the spur of the moment approaches that have been used by our skilled politicians to change things. In one case, I was asked to apologize for questioning these politicians' motives. Alas, when we claim that we have 98% of the population supporting our cause and only a handful showed up during demonstrations, can we ask the Royal Family to stop laughing? On the surface, we are united. Deep down, we are miles apart. If we look back to the election, the Temos didn...t want to reach out and touch Mr. Clive Edwards, even with a ten foot pole, because he was the enemy. Mr. Edwards is no longer the enemy, is he? Last week, three different opinions from our side became public, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Niu's and that of Professor Futa Helu. We are nowhere close as a team. The PSA strike was successful because of its members' unity. If anything united our side is very successful in, we are united in falling away from each other.
I also pointed out Mr. Niu's shortsightedness in his comments implying violence will return to the kingdom. When the elite citizens of the kingdom say things like this, people with small minds like me, take it as gospel and profound words of wisdom. Therefore, when things heat up, violence becomes a natural progression, as my friend from Australia stated. All in all, we do not have a united front or one person to speak on our behalf and/or our brightest minds are not meeting to find our solution. Imagine the kingdom fields its national rugby team with its best talents but when it comes to game day, each one plays for himself not as a team. The spectators come away talking about the team's pathetic team effort "moveuveu" not individual heroism. In our political struggle, we are watching the same scenario unfold.
My fellow citizens, Long term peace is never an accident; it is always the result of a long and serious pondering, sincere efforts, dialogues and compromises, with intelligent direction and skillful execution and each person's willingness to swallow his pride and pursue what is good for the kingdom; this is the choice. There cannot be an alternative. We must not attempt to change just for the sake of change, we must change knowing all avenues of opportunities had been searched and seriously considered before the final analysis is made. If we blindly rush forward and failed, our forbears, who were involved to get us a constitution, will someday look at us and say, "we died in vain".
TamaFoa
