Kolofo'ou forum discusses what the Tongan public need to know about political reform

Political Reform legislation: a question of legality - Lopeti Senituli:
I should first point out that the Speaker of the new Parliament, like the Deputy Speaker, will be nominated from amongst the Nobles Representatives by the Prime Minister, with the approval of all the elected members of the new Parliament, for appointment by His Majesty the King. Your report suggested that only the nine Noble’s Representatives will select a Speaker from among themselves.

I should also point out that your report should have informed the readers that when you made your presentation, including your claim that the existing Parliament, “… did not follow proper procedure to pass the proposed Electoral Boundaries, and the Bill to amend the Constitution and for the formation of a Boundary Commission”, the Clerk of Parliament, Dr. Viliami Latu, had already made his presentation, and had departed from the meeting venue, together with the Legal Counsel to Parliament, Sione Tekiteki.

This is an important piece of information for your readers to know, because in his presentation, Dr. Viliami Latu, stated that Parliament had followed the correct procedures to pass the amendments to the Constitution and the legislation to establish the Electoral Boundaries Commission. Had the Clerk of Parliament, and the Legal Counsel to Parliament, stayed for your presentation this whole question would have been resolved once and for all.

In your presentation you claimed that the new Parliament will be undemocratic because, “There will be no credible opposition in the new parliament.”

The new Parliament will have 26 elected members, and the size of the new Cabinet, inclusive of the 4 Ministers that may be nominated by the Prime Minister from outside of Parliament, is delimited to less than half of the number of elected members of Parliament. This ensures that Cabinet will always be in a minority and the Prime Minister of the day must constantly rely on the ballot of non-Cabinet members of the House to get anything passed in Parliament. So rather than a case of “no credible opposition”, it will be more a case of, “forming and maintaining a credible government”. That is the hallmark of true democracy!

You also claimed that the new Parliament will be undemocratic because, “Tonga will remain a Constitutional Monarchy under the leadership of King George Tupou V and his heirs”.

New Zealand is also a, “constitutional monarchy”, by virtue of the fact that the Queen of England, as Sovereign of New Zealand, is the source of all executive legal authority in New Zealand. The Government of New Zealand is formed from a democratically elected House of Representatives and the Sovereign of New Zealand acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and Government in all but the most exceptional circumstances. This salient fact does not make the New Zealand Parliament undemocratic at all!

Having said that, please rest assured that your opinions as the primary source of information and critique on what is happening in our beloved country in the English language are always welcomed and respected, as they engender healthy public debate especially on the political reforms we are undertaking. - Lopeti Senituli

Editor’s Note - We stand by our story that the election process is undemocratic and that makes the proposed new elected parliament undemocratic.
The motion and the Bills that were passed by the House on the evening of April 20 were not in accordance with the Rules for Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly and therefore not legally binding. My point is that: how can the House vote on amendments that have not been drafted, presented and voted on by the House?
The assertion by the letter writer “… that the new Parliament will be undemocratic because, ‘Tonga will remain a Constitutional Monarchy under the leadership of the King George Tupou V and his heirs’ ”, is entirely his own comment and interpretation, and we did not say that.