King withholds assent on lower firearms penalties

Please allow me to express my concern for the country that I have love and pride in.

I am writing to those who selfishly try to amend the laws for firearms and ammunitions, to redeem themselves from this madness. You are wasting time in the parliament fanning the flames for more problems to the country, instead of doing any good. You are simply endorsing avenues for more thugs and more criminals, bringing instability to the community that we live in, resulting in more deaths and destruction.

I am writing from a country with a well established law enforcement department. Sadly, homicides and gun fighting is happening at your doorsteps, and devastatingly affecting the neighborhood because of firearms possession by the wrong people. Firearms related crimes have elevated death statistics and disregarded the well being of humanity in this part of the world.

Surprisingly, Tonga has become a connected channel for drugs traffickers and criminal activities, and we should not let any further loopholes for such organized crime to take place. Criminal organizations from within and abroad are just waiting for such opportunities to oil their mechanism and centralize their supremacy if we are not careful. It is time to wake-up people or you are going to be responsible for the death of innocent people around us. Your defiled thinking and selfish ambitions have made you corrupted leaders. You are supposed to be administering for the needs of the people and country but you have undermined them. It is relevant for these representatives to take a long vacation while they are wasting time and money in the house.

It seems to me that if anything happens to any member of the house they can just amend the law to fit their criteria or agenda at their own expense, and risk the whole country’s well-being. That is not the transparency and justice the people of Tonga were fighting for. Hence, I am amused by the wise move of the King to prevent this madness. It is right for him to do that, carrying the utmost responsibilities for the safety of his subjects and for international accountability (remember nations are counting on us of how we design our laws and constitution).

I believe that the king has taken a leap of faith in himself and his people, and he has his doubts on his so-called lawmakers (the governing House of Representatives). We don’t want to go back to the Princess Ashika tragedy or the 2006 riot, but you are perverting us into the same situations again. To prevent this you need to let up or get out of your corrupted schemes. Otherwise you need to take the back seat or take a ride home let up or get out. You are a disgrace to the king and to the people of Tonga. I am not a political pundit, but when I see this kind of issue arising in our country, I can withstand the pain. Open your eyes and see, free our country from corruption and destruction. Love and respect for my people in Tonga. Do you care about our country?

God bless the king and Tonga. - Mo‘ungamotu‘a