Editor,
Great accomplishments at the recent completion of Vava’u #16’s Parliament Election last week, and congratulations to Mrs ‘Akosita Lavulavu are in order for her historical victory- especially, for such great a feat to crack the all-Tongan-male long standing monopoly of Parliament. More the reason that the media must apply our “critical-thinking” litmus test as we do with all her male counterparts. It’s only fair that we thoroughly investigate her character more carefully on her own, separately from her husband − ‘Etuate Lavulavu, MP turned Tongan Cabinet Minister - who lost his seat when the Supreme Court found he had committed bribery and failed to disclose election spending.
We are mindful of the temptation to pile accolades upon ‘Akosita, or scorn her just because she is a woman. Many of her support base praised her as a woman of high “integrity”. But let’s be fair that we are not blinded by rushing to board her “holier-than-thou” bandwagon advanced by her ousted husband.
For we must judge her moral judgement capacity alone to sit as a new Member of Parliament. There was not much vetting of her record by the media…
Road back to parliament
Was she elected on her own right, or was she the beneficiary of her husband’s popularity to his loyal constituents? Seen as a popular rebuke of her husband’s expulsion from Parliament for election bribery and other activities, Vava’u #16 constituents are sending ‘Etuate Lavulavu Act II, back to the House. …
'Akosita is the principal of Lavulavu’s privately owned “for-profit” technical school. Has she been paying rent to operate in a property owned by the government, the people of Tonga?
The public has a right to know about her state of mind while her husband was misusing his authority. Was she just a silent partner who went along for the ride?
Sione A. Mokofisi
Haveluloto, Tongatapu
