Editor,
Since the 16/11/06 event, when the mob of anarchists looted and burned down our beloved Capital, with political counter-allegations of countless kinds afterwards as an excuse for their failure to keep themselves at bay with the democratic principles of wisdom, temperance, courage and justice, certain matters are being virtually emerged as actual attributes that seem to have caused this catastrophe, together with some continuing effects of highly disputable and unresolved nature.
In short, the reality of causes and effects of the event is still remaining as the most controversial issue in Tongan political history since then, and sadly both of the Former Pro-democracy Movement Leaders (FPML) and the Government are still denying any involvement with the sequence of crises leading up to this political chaos (former, FPML, because they...ve lost the battle, and in the eyes of democratic ideals they are losers). Who else then we have to blame? Lucifer and his legion from Hell or Gabrielle with his angels from Heaven?
Some have argued that this is a result of the normal scheme of things in history, but in whose interests, because there are individuals and social movements with their conflicting and irreconcilable specific interests that always come first before the course of history is seen. Nothing comes from nothing of course, which implies that all occurrences are results of the interaction of other occurrences, and nothing can happen without any action or force precedes it. If there are four persons fighting and one of them was murdered, the reality of the matter is that all of them should be accountable and responsible for such a tragedy.
With the political eruption on the 16/11, there was a sequence of happenings or crises preceded before it occurred, as an aftermath of the interaction among the Government, FPML and the rest of the individuals and social movements of the civil society. Importantly, the FPML were not individuals of the civil society for the reason that they were institutionalising a social movement with a political specific interest outside of the normal life of the civil society.
By the way, unless the rule of law, for all parties that are claimed and found to be directly involved, will apply its full force under its legal and constitutional ethos upon them, these law-breakers and master-minds of the 16/11, if escaping from confronting legal procedures, won...t learn a lesson at all and will still see their illegitimate actions as just an ...alright political tactics... to be re-employed in the future in order to justify their political fanaticism and egoism. Both are masqueraded in the name of liberal democracy with its fundamental attributes of transparency-accountability and justice-freedom.
But the first lesson they should accept in hand is to be fully transparent and accountable before gaining the fruitions of justice and freedom, but in which sense of justice and freedom. Within our current Constitution, certain considerable principal aspects of these two are already written under the Acts of The Form of Government in Part II, The Land in Part III and Declaration of Rights in Part I, including the right to elect your own Representatives but in accordance to the Westminster system, and not the republican, on the division between the House of Nobles and House of Commoners with their two different voting social classes.
The classical and shortcut definitions of ...not to be harmed nor to harm others... for justice and ...not to be coerced nor to coerce others... for freedom are the guiding principles of our current Constitution anyway, regardless of the political push for a more democratic traits in terms of democratically elected representatives in a republican manner. It...s vital to bear in mind that our Constitution in its Declaration of Rights, The Form of Government and The Land Acts to a large extent advocates the ...liberal/free principles... of not to harm and to coerce others. Therefore the claim that we have no freedom and rights and justice at all in our current Constitution and it is a pure form of dictatorship is invalid. In other words, we have justice and freedom in our Constitution but not in the extent that can be found in most liberal democratic nations with republican characters, and this distinction is very significant and should be distinguished clearly. Generally, dictatorship has no justice and freedom within their Form of Government and The Land Acts and has no Declaration of Rights either.
Prior to 16/11, the FPML always yelled and roared to take to justice the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Nobles when they acted inappropriately and illegitimately in the eyes of law, and we have been observing the sweeping rate of legal charges by the former against the later in the past two decades. This is an immediate attempt to prove that they...re always the ...sole truth-tellers... in the Kingdom, and the political appointees by the Monarch, as the ...sole false-tellers..., should be accountable and responsible for their illegitimate actions, if not then resign otherwise face justice. Now it...s their turn to take responsible for their illegitimate actions in whatever forms they may be behind
the riot of 16/11, but unfortunately all of them have persistently denied any involvement in the event. Thus they failed in their first test on whether they...re suitable by virtue to lead the political future of the Kingdom with her expected increase in democratic tendencies, in a manner of republicanism.
Therefore the FPML should resign straightaway after the semi-revolution they were backing behind on the 16/11, as I already stated elsewhere. And if it will be dictated by the golden rule of justice for the ringleaders to end up bolting in jail, then let me say that this will be a point of re-starting and re-gaining again the spirit of pro-democracy movement that it has already faded away and left in a big mess due to their irrational acts intentionally to fulfil their self-centred agendas but not those of the majority in Tonga and abroad. There...re perhaps about 80,000 Tongans abroad who support the idea for a political change but they, were not with the mob on the catastrophic event nor supported them on their solution to destroy in order to win, and worst of all to burn it down during a point of already existing economic adversity.
For the ringleaders and their followers, we Tongan overseas were totally neglected in your plan for the destruction of Nuku...alofa. We support the political reform in a manner full of wisdom, justice, courage and temperance rather than the opposite. For the ringleaders and the Tongan government, furthermore, I would like to ask you, where were these four virtues of liberal democracy in the pre and post-16/11, and also when our voices from abroad on the issue of political reform will ever be taken into account of seriously, but not just to use them for trapping more money from our pockets to fulfil your own agendas. From the day the Report was presented by Dr Sitiveni Halapua and on 16/11 up to today, none of you has ever considered our voices formally or officially approached us on any related matter after all.
We are therefore no difference from spectators in a football stadium watching you guys playing in the field, with us having no power to intervene, except to either applaud you when you entertain us or infuriate when you play awfully. Halapua...s Report with about six pages comment on us living abroad is unacceptable, and it...s a good illustration of your policy of isolation, and this is really appalling indeed, and worst of all is the violation of our constitutional rights as Tongan citizens which are legally granted by the Declaration of Rights, The Form of Government and The Land Acts under the present Constitution. It feels like that you only use us when it suits you best, particularly to be still your fund-raising branches off shore. It seems to me, you enjoy in seeing us as still the producers from overseas and you are the consumers back there in Tonga.
Our voices and rights to the current political reforms are not good enough to be summed-up on just six pages as in Halapua...s, especially after a few months of dialoguing with some of us during the ...Talanoa forums.... What...s a waste of time. There are more of us overseas than you living in our beloved homeland, and there are still a considerable number of us, of about 50,000, who still hold Tongan citizenships. So, the political reform programs should not be limited just to you, but please explicitly prove to us that we...re not only spectators watching you playing in the field nor fundraisers donating money from abroad for local functions and socio-economic advancements.
By law we should be players, and not spectators, of the political reform programs; by culture we are obligated and obliged to donate you money from abroad; by democracy we should vote from abroad on any major constitutional change in the politics of the Kingdom; by religion we should pray for you not to loot and burn down again our capital; by capitalism you should work harder than ever before to lessen your dependency on remittances from us; by education you should remember that there is no place in classroom to solve problems by violence, and with liberal/free morality; wisdom, justice, courage and temperance should be the four virtues for the politics of our civil society.
At last, let us see the logic of the following points and ascertain if there are meaningful explanations in them for the present debates regarding the causes and effects of 16/11:
- The causes of 16/11 are divided into long-term and short-term causes, conditional and unconditional causes, predictable and unpredictable causes, and necessary and unnecessary causes.
- The effects are normally long-term and short-term effects, conditional and unconditional causes, predictable and unpredictable effects, and necessary and unnecessary effects.
- Any riot with mob characters and mentalities consists of three main types:
1) a riot with professional leaders such as lawyers, scholars, politicians, etc. masterminding the rest of the mob with a clear plan for destroying places or hurting people;
2) a riot with angry mob erupting unexpected during entertainment, worship or sport activities with no professional leaders and a clear plan for destroying places and hurting people; and
3) a riot with professional leaders masterminding the mob from outside or behind the scene to destroy places and hurt people (I guess that 1. and 3, but not 2., that fit in well with the nature of the destruction on 16/11).
- Perhaps there should be more people to be charged with seditions and slanders than just two. The FPML, all of them from different organizations should be charged with seditions and slanders because their swearing and derogating voices are still echoing around under the ...Ovava Tree of Pangasi...i, Pine and Toa Trees of Pangai Lahi, as well as, in the satellite of corrupted TV OBN.
Siosiua Lafitani Tofua‘ipangai
Lo‘au Research Society (LRS)
pouvalul [at] aapt [dot] net [dot] au
