Editor,
I am bemused by the vehemence of Tavake Fusimalohi...s letter (15 Aug 06) in response to my defence of the Legislative Assembly's working hours, which, coincidently, you have not deemed fit to publish on your site.
I have no intention of engaging the doyen of Tongan journalists in arguing over how long is a short work week, suffice to say that my original public statement of defence has successfully quelled the swelling wave of angry letters from irate taxpayers who were misled by your original article alleging, amongst other things, that, "Tonga's parliament has decided to work less for more pay...."
In the final analysis, the reading public's perception must be the final arbiter of what we write, not our personal and nuanced views of our own opinions.
Yours sincerely,
Lopeti Senituli
Press Secretary / Political Adviser to the Prime Minister
lsenituli [at] pmo [dot] gov [dot] to
Editor - The weekly salaries of members of parliament are calculated based on a seven-day week, including Saturday and Sunday. The decision by the House to reduce their working days from four to three, means that they work three days, while are paid for seven days. "Tonga's parliament has decided to work less for more pay."
