Early results show hot contest in Tongatapu 3

It's interesting to see what the PM election outcome will be. He can choose to have 4 non-elected members in his cabinet - but he must keep cabinet number to less than half of the number of all elected members (not counting the Speaker). i.e. it cannot be more than 12 if my calc. is right. Electoral candidates who are experts in their field (and members of Cabinet) as part of their election campaign, did suggest that the Cabinet number is too small not only for the number portfolios there ought to be looked after, but the 17 peoples reps is hardly a large enough pool from which to draw the necessary skills required for Cabinet. This revelation suggests that a PM may be reluctant to recruit all 4 non-elected members which he is entitled to, to address any skills deficiency - because there could be political repercussion for Pm there. ie bypassing elected MPs because they are not good enough? On the other hand, the overall rank could swell but still without the particular skills a PM would be looking for. From the campaigns that we've heard, there is a general feeling that the current electoral boundaries need to be reviewed; second, something called a Cabinet Manual needs to exist and if it does, how much is it followed? Cabinet responsibility needs strengthened ie annual reports etc need to be submitted on time. Some of the Ministers are behind with their AR by 2 years according to Auditor General. What the House would do about these ministers remains to be seen. Or does the House even realise it has to these things up or not? With the review of the electoral boundaries of course could come the review of the number representatives. These are just a few of the things we might see develop in the House in the next four years ... There is a lot of things to be done. But identifying what these things are and what to do about them is the challenge ...TU'ANAKI

One of the things that needs to be looked at is the procedure for VONC (Vote of no confidence). This procedure for VONC was a matter referred to the law committee but was not adequately addressed. The important issue was - At what point in the VONC procedure does the non-elected member NOT vote? Constitution says that he or she "shall not be entitled to vote in any vote of no confidence in the PM" Does the the "vote" here in the Vote of No Confidence the whole VONC process? Well, in the last VONC, the non-elected members voted on all the other matters during the VONC process except for the final vote itself determining the motion. Well, this is just one of the things that needs to be looked at. One thing that ought to be looked at is sufficient time must be allocated to reviewing regulations. This is particularly crucial because Parliament needs to strengthen its scrutiny of Govt, which is one of its core roles. However, Parliament cannot be blamed for under-performing in this respect - How can Parliament perform when Ministers do not submit their AR on time? And oral question time is practically non-existent (although the Rules says this is to be done between 1:30pm - 4:30pm on Thursdays)? And that not enough time is dedicated to scrutinising subsidiary legislation that Ministers make as this is squeezed into the program sometime towards the end of the session and is always rushed? Parliament needs to be perform yes, but this in the most part depends on Govt abiding by their constitutional duty to account to parliament. Cabinet does not seem to be particularly in a hurry to push ministers to submit these things! A lot of work truly needs to be done to move our democracy ahead !.... TU'ANAKI..