One month on: how tensions erupted into Tonga's day of mob violence [1]
Monday, December 18, 2006 - 16:07. Updated on Monday, August 17, 2020 - 17:38.
Tensions were building up inside and outside of the Tonga Legislative Assembly in Nuku'alofa during the week leading up to Thursday November 16, the day mob violence erupted, destroying much of the central business district.
In the following report, Matangi Tonga staff piece together what happened on that ugly day, one month ago, including the events leading up to it, and also report comments made later by People's Representative 'Akilisi Pohiva.
On the morning of Thursday November 16 a crowd was gathering at Pangai Si'i in response to calls made on the radio and television to support a model of political reform that had been raised informally in the House by a Tongatapu People's Representative, 'Akilisi Pohiva.
Meanwhile, a planned protest march on another issue was scheduled to begin at 10 am from the Oceania Broadcasting Network (OBN) situated at Hala Salote, with the march planned to go through the business centre to join the gathering at Pangai Si'i, a small park facing Parliament House.
While the protesters were gathering at Pangai Si'i, an opposition group, who disagreed with the political views that had been expressed at Pangai Si'i, set up a post across the road in a tent, firstly outside Pangai Lahi, and later at Pangai Lahi itself. They appeared to be mainly town's people from Kolofo'ou and Fasi.
With these two opposing camps on either side of the Hala Taufa'ahau within a stone's throw of each other, it was a clear sign that a physical confrontation was in the making. It did not take long before a few verbal exchanges took place between the two groups, even before a Pangai Si'i group left to join the protest march from OBN television.
Protest march
The OBN march was in protest over a notice that had been served on OBN requiring the station to vacate their premises on a property owned by the king. The notice was contained in a letter that had been sent by a lawyer, 'Aisea Taumoepeau, to Sangster Saulala, the Manager of OBN.
| Sangster Saulala, at Pangai Si'i on November 16 |
The protest march began from the OBN television station, and moved westward along Hala Salote. Prominent members of the march were the People's Representatives, 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Uliti Uata, 'Isileli Pulu and Lepolo Taunisila. Then at the intersection of Hala Salote and Hala Lelue the marchers were met by a larger group of protesters led by Teisina Fuko, the president of the People's Democratic Party, who were showing their support for OBN.
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| At left, 'Akilisi Pohiva and, at centre wearing lei, 'Uliti Uata, march past the Prime Minister's Office on November 16. |
| Combined marchers pass the Rowena Building in central Nuku'alofa on the morning of November 16. |
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| National Business Association marchers pass the Nuku'alofa Police Station. |
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| Marchers on November 16. |
The protesters, estimated to be at least 800 people, marched on to the intersection of Hala Taufa'ahau and Hala Salote, then turned right along Hala Taufa'ahau marching in front of the Prime Minister's Office and back to Pangai Si'i. At this point of their march they were chanting loudly for political reform.
Pangai Si'i
When the marchers returned to Pangai Si'i a number of people started making speeches. One speaker, People's Representative, 'Akilisi Pohiva, who appeared to be highly charged, with glaring eyeballs, started calling out the names of people he was angry with, including local journalists, telling them to come to Pangai Si'i and "to face the people", and to count the number of people who were there.
| Pangai Si'i on the afternoon of November 16. |
During the morning the protesters stayed on at Pangai Si'i and listened to speeches while apparently awaiting a response from parliament to their requests that 'Akilisi had circulated to the House on Thursday the week before.
The House had been scheduled to open on November 16 at 9.30 am.
However, at some point during the morning 'Akilisi Pohiva left Pangai Si'I to sit on a Parliamentary Select Committee meeting chaired by the Minister of Justice, 'Alisi Taumoepeau. The committee was to decide whether parliament would sit that afternoon or not
The Crowd
'Akilisi was reported to have emerged from parliament in the early afternoon and spoke to the crowd.
Whatever was said, by mid-afternoon the protesters were fired up and soon erupted into violent rage, breaking out of Pangai Si'i and throwing rocks at the Prime Minister's Office, breaking windows and overturning a vehicle parked at the front of the building. They continued throwing rocks at the Public Service Commission Office, the Parliament House, and the Parliament's office, where they smashed vehicles in the parking area as well as smashing government vehicles parked at the Ministry of Finance beside Pangai Si'i and overturned two government vehicles on Hala Lelue.
At about 3:30 pm the mob ran along Hala Salote and entered the Molisi Tonga Supermarket owned by the Tongan Prime Minister's family.
Nearby, from the Matangi Tonga office in the Taumoepeau Building on Hala Fatafehi, right behind the supermarket, we could hear the crashing of broken glasses, and people screaming.
When we arrived at Molisi Tonga a few minutes later the lone security man at the supermarket said that after the first coconut crashed through the front window, the three cash registrars at the front were ripped off, then the adjacent IMEX money transfer office was trashed and robbed, while goods from shelves were also trashed and looted by people running into the store. We saw women running out with ice cream bowls and youths running off with cartons of beer, dropping some outside, some drinking and laughing.
| Police arrive at Molisi Tonga after looters trashed the supermarket. |
| Shoreline Group Building, NOvember 16. |
At about 4 pm, we received a call reporting that the Shoreline Office, about half a mile away, had been invaded by a mob that was trashing everything in sight and looting the goods displayed at the office. The mob then torched the building, while the staff and looters were still inside it. Seven people lost their lives in the inferno that rapidly gutted the building.
At 5 pm we were informed that the Pacific Royale Hotel had also been attacked and trashed while items were stolen from the hotel.
After photographing the fire blazing at the Shoreline Building, we went to the Pacific Royale Hotel on Nuku'alofa's main street. There we saw two vehicles belonging to the Ramanlal family had been overturned in front of the hotel and one was burning. Minutes later a man casually walked up with a rolled up ta'ovala and, using it as a torch, took flames from the burning car and as hundreds of bystanders, including young policemen, stood watching, the man set fire to the second vehicle. Meanwhile, a crowd of all ages was looting the Chinese shops at the Golden Apple Building nearby.
| The Golden Star Restaurant, November 16. |
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| Nuku'alofa's main street on November 16, vehicles outside the Pacific Royale are torched. |
With the burning vehicles outside the Pacific Royale after 5 pm there was another fire evident near the Basillica.
Soon after we arrived back at the Taumoepeau Building on Hala Fatahehi we could hear more screaming and crashing, and the explosions of a fire coming from the direction of the Cowley Bakery on Hala Salote. The building next door to the bakery, the Tong Hua store had been set on fire and a huge column of smoke and heat was billowing out as looters ran laughing in every direction. A lone policeman on the intersection of Hala Fatafehi and Hala Salote was directing jammed traffic and helping office workers to leave the area, while others who had left earlier were trying to return to save their computers. Also leaving town in the flow of traffic were truck-loads and car-loads of loot, and whole families of laughing, cheering looters.
| Traffic jam on Hala Fatafehi, November 16. |
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Inferno
By about 6 pm it was getting dark as Nuku'alofa was engulfed with black smoke from burning buildings in various parts of the capital.
Already the Vaiola Hospital had treated over a dozen cases of lacerations and three cases of burns, with more injured, mainly teenagers, waiting for attention. All medical staff had been recalled for duty overnight.
Back in town Pacific Royale Hotel was ablaze with the flames spreading to the neighbouring Tungi Arcade and the new Star Cinema. Further down the road a fire that was started at the Golden Apple had spread to neighbouring buildings containing restaurants and shops, and by early evening this part of Hala Taufa'ahau had become an inferno with flames filling the road. The fires were reflected in the mirrored windows of the Maseia Plaza, a building owned by the Tokaikolo Chuch that was untouched by the arsonists. While at the other end of the block also untouched was the Walter Trading Building owned by People's Representative, 'Uliti Uata.
About this time going to Radio Tonga, and making their so-called "victory speech" to the nation were the five People's Representatives, 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Uliti Uata, Lepolo Taunisila, Clive Edwards and 'Isileli Pulu.
| The remains of Molisi Tonga with the Taumoepeau Building and the Royco Building at rear. |
Buldings ablaze
On the other side of town, after the Tong Hua store was gutted, the Molisi Tonga supermarket started burning from the back, and a little while later the century old wooden store of Hone and the late Fakava'inga Taumoepeau, which housed the Tonfon mobile phone shop and a Western Union branch, went up on fire. The flames from the wooden building leapt over and caught the roof of the two-storey cement Taumoepeau Building, setting the whole top floor ablaze, gutting the offices of 'Uta'atu and Associates, and the Tonga Trust. The fire then spread to the roof of the neighbouring two-storey Royco Building where the top floor offices ignited. While the top floors were burning, frantic office workers were running in and out of the buildings trying to remove their computers, with some equipment then being looted from their cars in the street below.
Sifa Taumoepeau and his cousin Isi, with a couple of buckets filled with water from a ground level tap across the road, fought alone to contain the fire on the second floor of the Taumoepeau Building for the next five hours, well into the early hours of Friday morning.
Nearby, at the National Beverage Company on Hala Fatafehi, Lucy Prescott and Lise Fa'aumu had successfully defended the liquor store after going down on their knees begging the mob not to burn their building.
Back on Taufa'ahau Road, at the Mbf Bank Tevita Akoteu, the bank's head of Accounts and Administration, watched from the road as the flames of Tungi Arcade died down, and six would-be bank robbers tried for two hours to hack into the bank's safe.
Upstairs, thieves were raiding the Hotel Nuku'alofa, as Vai Sanft tried to get his staff and equipment out through a back entrance.
On Hala Salote outside of the CBD, around the three storey China Town Hotel the parked vehicles of looters jammed both sides the road. The front windows of the ground floor Fung Shing Supermarket had been broken and the shelves were being emptied in a carnival free-for-all by trolley-wheeling mothers and their families. A man on a bicycle wobbled away from the scene with two cartons of whisky balanced on his crossbar. A bystander heard a man call out to the looters "You have ten minutes to get what you want before we set fire to the building!"
The supermarket, the hotel and a restaurant owned by the Yu family were razed by the fire.
Joined force
It was round about 8 pm or 9 pm when a joined force of the Police and the Tonga Defence Services brought some order into the town by moving people away from the central area.
The mob, however, appeared to have already moved out of town along Hala Taufa'ahau, and their trail was evident the next day with charred remains of a number of businesses and small Asian shops they had burned and looted along the way.
| Asian stores looted and burned along Taufa'ahau Road on November 16. |
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| Looted and burned, E. M. Jones Ltd. at Poutaha |
At Poutaha, the gas service station and the hardware store owned by E. M. Jones Ltd, was attacked by a large screaming crowd. Drivers caught in a traffic jam outside the gas station were terrified to see a man running around holding a lighted blow-torch, while looters cleaned out the entire stock of the hardware and building store. The hardware shop and an Asian-owned shop across the road were then set on fire and gutted.
Parliament
The going's-on in the Tongan parliament, since November 6 when it reconvened after its two-week's break for the national tour by parliamentarians, offers a few glimpses into what was brewing in the House. The aftermath was the destruction of the Nuku'alofa CBD on November 16.
On November 6, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Tu'iha'angana made it clear that the House had only eight working days left before its closure on November 23, but within those eight days the House still had a mound of work to get through, including Bills, Reports and the report of the National Committee for Political Reform.
The Agenda Committee of the House presented a tight working agenda, with new Bills for Acts and Amendment Bills taking priority to be followed by the NCPR report and other reports.
The first issue of contention was a move by People's Representatives 'Akilisi Pohiva and 'Uliti Uata for the House to vote again on their massive 60% salary rise, back dated to July 2005. The issue had become a topic of hot public debate while the members were on national tour for two main reasons: firstly, because while the Cabinet Ministers had voted against it, it was still passed with the deciding votes of the Speakers and Chairman of the Whole House Committee; and, secondly, because apparently 'Akilisi and 'Uliti sitting in the sub-committee that recommended the salary rise were right behind the rise.
When the two PR's told the House on November 6 that they wanted another vote, there were a few hot verbal exchanges in the House because the Cabinet ministers pointed out that they did not want to be part of the salary rise in the first place, but in the end it had been agreed for the salary rise for all members to go ahead.
NCPR Report
The second point of contention was a move again by 'Akilisi and supported by 'Uliti Uata, Clive Edwards, 'Isileli Pulu, Sunia Fili and Lepolo Taunisila, for the agenda of the House to be amended. They wanted the House to debate and vote on the NCPR report. There were a few exchanges with those who thought it was more important for the House to debate on Bills, which were essential for the government's revenue collection and for economic development, leaving the political reform to continue with a parliamentary committee to be made up of two each from the tables of the Cabinet Ministers, the Noble's Representatives and the People's Representatives. The six PRs, however, insisted that they were representing the wishes of the people and that the House the must deal with the NCPR report and vote on it before the closure of parliament.
The Chairman of the Whole House Committee insisted that there would be no vote on the NCPR report because the Talanoa discussion was still ongoing.
On Tuesday November 7 during the debate in the House the Minister of Police reported that the PR's had made an announcement on television calling for people to come to Pangai Si'i because the House had not accepted their wishes. About this time the volume of speeches and noise from Pangai Si'i was very loud, and could be heard in Parliament, and before the end of the day people from Pangai Si'i were swearing at Cabinet Ministers as they left the House.
On Wednesday November 8 there was no parliament, according to the new shorter three-day working week that the House had decided on before giving themselves the 60% salary rise.
On Thursday November 9, a week before the destruction of Nuku'alofa, the House finally decided to vote on the NCPR Report. It was passed in principle, 21 to 3. Those against the report were the Nobles Fohe, Tu'ipelehake and Tu'ilakepa.
There was a large rally at Pangai Si'I on the same day.
After the House passed the NCPR Report it moved on to pass other bills in the pipeline. The House then returned to continue debating issues arising from the NCPR Report.
On Thursday November 9 'Akilisi Pohiva had distributed pieces of paper to some representatives after telling the Speaker it was going to help him ['Akilisi] in his speech on the NCPR Report. The piece of paper, however, contained a proposition for a model of government that would allow 21 People's Representatives into the House, compared with 14 PRs and 17 PRs in other reform models that had been proposed for consideration.
However, the Chairman of the whole House Committee, Tu'ilakepa, was annoyed that he had no prior knowledge of it and he said that the paper that 'Akilisi handed out was not formerly distributed to the House.
'Akilisi argued that he had told the Speaker that he was going to distribute this paper to help in his speech and the Speaker had agreed.
The paper he handed out was actually the petition that 'Akilisi was talking about later.
The Noble Luani objected, "the proceedings are absolutely disorganized, the affairs of the house appear to be in a mess." Only the day before the House was arguing about the agenda and trying to reshuffle it, he said, and then this was another messy affair.
Disturbing the House
On Monday November 13, highlights of proceedings in the House started with the reading of a report from a parliamentary sub-committee on the people at Pangai Si'i. The sub-committee is chaired by the Minister of Justice, Hon. 'Alisi Taumoepeau. The committee was formed because of concern by Cabinet Ministers over their personal safety, because they had been abused and threatened by some people at Pangai Si'i, and also because the volume of the noise was very disruptive for the proceedings of the House.
The report stated that following a meeting on November 7 it was agreed for the Speaker to write a letter to the Minister of Police, expressing his concern for the safety of members of parliament. The response from the Minster of Police was the closure of a portion of the Hala Lelue, adjacent to Pangai Si'i.
The report said that on November 10 the sub Committee met again and it was decided for the proceedings of parliament to cease until it was confirmed that the people at Pangai Si'i would stop threatening members of parliament. It was then agreed that 'Akilisi would meet members of the People's Committee for Political Reform that he chaired, and they would talk to the people at Pangai Si'i.
The committee met again on November 13 and 'Akilisi said that they had met the people at Pangai Si'i and they agreed to move their tents and their sound system, and face it away from the Parliament House, and he was sure that they would not disturb the proceedings in the House again.
March permit declined
On a different issue the Minister of Police, Hon. Siaosi 'Aho commented on a letter he had received at 11 am requesting permission for a protest march to be held at 1 pm on the same day. He said he declined the request because it was a very short notice, and secondly no reason for the march was given. The letter was from People's Representative, 'Isileli Pulu.
The former Minister of Police, People's Representative Clive Edwards, challenged the Minister and argued that the minister did not have the authority to stop the constitutional right of the people to march. While Clive argued that the Minister had not the authority to stop protest marches, the Minister of Police pointed out that he was responsible to maintain law and order on public roads.
The Speaker called for the Clerk to read a petition that was presented to the House the week before. Before the petition was read, 'Akilisi said that there were amendments to the petition, but for the reading to proceed and the amendments to be added later.
Petition
The Clerk read the Petition No. 2/2006.
The three objectives of the petition were -
1. For the Speaker to allow the House to debate on a Bill that accompanied the petition.
2. The objective of the Bill was for the people to elect all members of parliament. The members then elect a Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister to appoint his Cabinet.
3. The details are in the content of the Bill.
Following the reading of the petition the Speaker expressed his dismay over the petition which expressed a wish of the 1,046 people who signed the petition for all members of parliament to be elected by the people, in addition there were also Bills for Acts to be amended.
The Speaker said that the petition was unusual in that it jumped to the next stage of proposing to amend Acts while they were still debating on the proposed political reform program. He said that the amendment of Acts was a later stage of the political reform to be decided on later.
The Hon. Tu'ipelehake also queried the claim that 98% of the population supported the petition, and yet only 1,046 people signed the petition.
'Akilisi responded that those who signed the petition were only the people who attended the meetings they held in the villages. He said there was no time to send the petition to Vava'u, the Niuas and 'Eua.
The Speaker suggested for the House to vote and to recognise the petition, and for the Private Bills to follow the normal procedure to be processed by the Law Committee.
Hon. Tu'ilakepa suggested for debate on the petition and the proposed amendment Bills to be postponed for next year because he said there was a major legal task to be undertaken, particularly with the proposal in the Bills to amend the Land Act. He expressed his surprise that the petitioner's Bills also proposed to amend the Land Act, when it was clear from the NCPR report that a majority of Tongans did not want any change to the Land Act.
The Speaker called for vote that the House recognise the petition. It was carried 25-0.
The Legislature was dissolved and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee, Hon. Tu'ilakepa took his Chair.
A Vava'u People's Representative, Samiu Vaipulu proposed for both government and the so-called People's Political Reform Committee to withdraw their proposed parliamentary composition, (which had been referred to as Models) and to proceed with the proposal for the formation a committee to be made up of two representatives each from the PRs, Nobles and the government and allow the Talanoa to continue.
PM withdrew proposal
The Prime Minister responded positively to the request and withdrew the government proposition.
However, 'Akilisi insisted for their Model to be accepted and for the House to debate and pass their proposed Private Bills.
(That was to be their contribution to the National Political Reform program, despite the fact that they had already presented their model to the NCPR to be incorporated into the NCPR Report).
Clive Edwards, who had signed in the petition for the Bills to amend Acts, told the committee that the petition was simply for all members of parliament to be elected by the people, and it had nothing to do with taking away the power of nobles and their land as it appeared to be the intention of the Bills to amend Acts that accompanied the petition/model.
But the Chairman pointed out that there were included Bills to amend the Land Act, and the Royal Estate.
Clive responded that that was an unwise proposal and if the PRs had put their signatures onto it then definitely something was wrong.
'Akilisi wanted to know, "what page in the petition are we debating on?"
Chairman responded by asking him if he knew what was in their petition.
'Akilisi said that the Bill was a Tongan translation of an Act in English, and he suggested that they should get the English version because there may be a difference in interpretation.
When the House closed for the day, the Speaker said for the Private Members Bills that were tabled together with the Petition to follow the normal procedure to go to the Law Committee before they were presented to be debated on by the House.
Final Day
Tuesday November 14 was the final day for a formal session of the Tongan Parliament this year. The first issue of concern to be raised was by the Minister of Police, Hon. Siaosi 'Aho. He said that he had received a letter that morning from 'Akilisi asking for permission for a protest march. He said he gave his approval for a peaceful protest march.
The Minister of Police also said that another group had asked for a permission to be at Pangai Si'i facing the group that was already there. If they came there, it was feared that there would be clashes and civil disturbance, but he was determined that that would not happen.
'Akilisi said they (the PRs) were neither participating nor organising the march, but some people told them that they want to march so he said they should inform the minister.
Referring to the Bill that was presented together with the petition to the House the day before, and where Clive had moved for Clause 67 to be deleted, 'Akilisi said there was a misinterpretation and they had no intention to infringe on hereditary and land rights.
2008 General Election
The Legislature was dissolved and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee Hon. Tu'ilakepa took his chair.
'Isileli Pulu that the essence of their petition/model was that there should be only 30 members of parliament, 21 to be elected by the People, and nine by the Nobles. Out of the 21 PRs, there would be10 from Tongatapu, four from Vava'u three from Ha'apai and two each from 'Eua and the two Niuas. They wanted this to be in place for the 2008 parliamentary election.
The Chairman of the Whole House Committee stressed that the committee would not vote on the composition of reform, and the Bills proposed by the petitioners.
The Minister for Tourism, Hon. Fineasi Funaki raised a point that the amendment to the constitution that was proposed by the PRs would take away the hereditary and the constitutional right of the king.
'Akilisi told the minister that they were not taking away the hereditary right of the king, but it was a matter of returning the power and natural rights of the people.
Hon. Fineasi Funaki stressed that by securing the hereditary right of the king, it also secured the hereditary titles of nobles and the hereditary rights of individual Tongans to their land.
'Akilisi told the minister that the land right of people was already insecure, and many people had lost their land through mortgage. He said that Vakataumai was currently being leased by a Chinese for 99 years.
Land rights
The Minister of Works reminded the member that the leasing of land is a constitutional right of the individual, and no one could stop that, it is the right of the individual to his property and to fulfill his dream.
Lepolo Taunisila, said that if the individual had the right to his property, then he or she should also have the right to elect its leader.
Hon. Fineasi Funaki said that with regards to the election of our leader, he believed that it was elected by god, and that we should respect god's election.
'Akilisi told the Minister that he should read history, because world leaders such as Hitler and the Pharaohs were eventually rejected by the people.
Clive disagreed with the Minister that they were proposing to take away all the authority of the king, he said that they were proposing for a removal of only a part of the authority of the king.
The Minister for Sports and Youth pointed out that the proposed amendment was to delete Clause 67 of the Act , which would affect the Land Act and the Act relating to Royal Estates.
'Akilisi told the Minister that there was a correction to the Bill and it would be distributed soon. He said that a sub clause 2 was completely ommited but they would go on TV to make the correction.
The Chairman of the WHC again pointed out how disorganised and scattered was the presentation that had been made by the PRs, despite their claim that they had been working on it for years. The other factor was that they were trying to amend the Land Act, something that was clearly stated in the NCPR report that the public didn't want to change.
Changes in petition
Nobel Luani wanted some definite answers from 'Isileli Pulu, to explain why there was a change in the number of Noble's Representatives from 6 to 9, and why sub-clause 2 was not in the original petition? He wondered how did the PRs expect him to support their petition when it was changing every day.
'Akilisi said that the problem was because they worked for a committee and they had to have the approval of the committee whenever they presented anything to the House. They may present a different figure to the House but if their committee approved a different figure then they had to change again.
The Minister of Labour, Commerce and Industries wanted to know if it was true what he heard in the news that people in Pangai Si'i were saying that if they knew that the petition had anything to do with an amendment to the Land Act, they would not be at Pangai Si'i. He wanted to know if that was true.
'Akilisi said that the answer to the Minister's question would be very long. He said that they hosted a convention to review the constitution but government did not want to participate.
The Minister said he did not want a history lesson he wanted just a straight answer to his question.
However, there was no straight answer to the his two questions: if the people at Pangai Si'i authorised PR's to speak for them in the House; and if the people at Pangai Si'i knew that accompanying their petition were some Bills to amend the Land Act and the Constitution.
Mistyping
The Minister for Youth and Sport , Hon. Tu'ivakano, commented on how Clive disputed the Tongan translation of the Bill Clive drafted in English. The Minister wondered if the other PR's had amended the original draft of the Bill.
'Akilisi said that it was a clear mistyping because the whole of sub-clause 2 was omitted.
Nobel Tu'ipelehake wanted to know if that is how they worked, they get the signatories before they type in the objective of the petition.
'Isileli insisted that there was no ill intention in their part.
The Governor of Ha'apai, Hon. Malupo, said that under Clause 76 of the Act only Nobles may debate over the hereditary titles to Royal Estates and noble titles. He said that according to what the PR's had been saying that their intention for the amendment was in order for all members of the House to participate in the debating of such issues, but in fact that was not what was proposed in the bill.
'Akilisi said that they should cut the discussion short and for the Governor to tell the people whatever he wanted to tell them, but to let them settle things out properly later.
Noble Tu'ipelehake asked for more time, a week perhaps, for the nobles to look at the land issue, because they had to talk to other nobles who were not in the House.
Need for proper discussion
The Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Tuita, said that it was very important for the discussion on the reform to be done properly and diligently. There was no need to be in such a rush.
'Uliti Uata said that it was most important for the House to vote on their petition for 21 PRs and nine Noble's Representatives and for this composition to be implemented in the 2008 general election. He said that if the nobles would like to change their figures back to six they could do that later.
The Minister of Labour, Commerce and Industries wanted to know that if they voted on their proposal and they lost, would the petitioners be willing to drop the issue there, or they would continue to insist on their Model being implemented.
The Chairman said that he would not call for votes on any figures. He encouraged the debate to continue, because all their good ideas would be given to the committee to look into.
'Uliti said that was what they were after - a decision of the House. He also reminded the House that they had been working on this reform for 31 years.
The Chairman of the WHC said that even though they have been working on their model for years, but it was still full of mistakes and incorrect information.
The Chairman closed the committee and the Speaker closed the House until 9.30 am on Thursday November 16.
Out-voted
As 'Akilisi explained later, on November 20, to Matangi Tonga: "So you ask me who is responsible and I say that last Thursday [November 16] is the result of a period of struggle. To me it was part of the process of continuous events of the last 15-20 years. My role is to speak on behalf of the people.
"Government kept telling us that we didn’t have the support of the people. So we had to show the government we have the support of the people. We called them. Just to show that we have the support of the people. That's what they said, that we didn’t have the support. So we appeared on TV and appealed to people to please come to Pangai Si'i to show support."
'Akilisi said that both he and other People's Representatives had made the public appeals during the week and particularly on the night of Wednesday November 15 on television, asking people to come to Pangi Si'i on November 16.
"We had come to a point in parliament where we were asking people to support us," he said. "During the parliament's discussions, just to show support."
He said that the purpose of the Parliamentary Select Committee meeting on November 16, that he was a member of, was to decide whether or not the House would sit that day.
"At 12 noon the committee decided the meeting would be adjourned to Friday or Monday because the members felt it would not be safe to sit in the afternoon." He said he told the committee that, "last Thursday we managed to control the people when we petitioned the House."
"I wanted the House to sit but I was outvoted," 'Akilisi said.
"Unfortunately, there were angry people, the House was supposed to have met at 9 am, but after the select committee meeting the House was adjourned.
"The people were waiting for the outcome of the meeting, so people had to wait, and then the house was adjourned again so the people saw government was using delaying tactics.
"The issue was because we were about to present our proposal to parliament to get the 21/9 representation in parliament. It was a proposal, and it was up to parliament to set up a committee to finish it off.
"Some people broke from the crowd. It was very unfortunate. No, I have nothing to say to the business people, I haven't called a meeting. It is very unfortunate, but to me I have to look back to 1975."
'Akilisi said that he and other People's Representatives went on the radio on the evening of November 16. "We appealed for the people to calm down," he said.
"I have made my position clear, unfortunately what happened costed lives and that is part of it. There is always a cost," said 'Akilisi.
Arrests
In the tense days that followed November 16, and after the central Nuku'alofa Business District was secured by the Tonga Defence Services and the Tonga Police, a criminal investigation began, with the help of experts brought in from the Australian and New Zealand police and military, who also secured the international airport and other strategic areas.
One month on, by December 17, a total of 777 people had been arrested and charged with offences relating to the events of November 16. Out of the 777 who have been charged, 392 had been charged with theft. The first court appearances will be on Wednesday December 20.