Without vision, where is political reform taking Tonga? asks Dr Sitiveni Halapua
Monday, April 16, 2012 - 20:40
FROM OUR ARCHIVES: Tonga's political reform introduced an elected government for Tonga in 2010 when constituencies voted for their favourite personalities, but the process lacks vision, according to one of the architects of the reform. Dr Sitiveni Halapua believes that Tonga's new electoral system needs to be revised, so that when a new government is elected into power, it should already have a clear vision of where they are taking Tonga. Interview by Pesi Fonua.
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Comments
Editor: thanks for this
Editor: thanks for this interesting article. A small technical point of clarification, I assume it is a misquote:
"My main concern is our debt crisis which amounts to 45% of our Gross Domestic Product. This means that for every pa'anga you produce, 45 seniti goes to paying off public debt," he said.
This should read:
"...This means that for every pa'anga you produce, 45 seniti would have to go to paying off public debt in one year".
Debt to GDP ratio of 45% means that the value of debt is 45% of the GDP for a particular year. If we paid 45% of everything produced in a particular year all debt would be paid off in one year. Most loans, however, are for several decades. Each year we pay interest and some of the capital - this is called the debt service, this is much less than 45% of GDP. But still a matter of concern as expressed in government publications. (NB: the most recent rate shows a little below 45%.)