People's Representatives were upset last week when the House adjourned again for another fortnight, after only one day's session.

At a press conference on Friday 'Akilisi Pohiva, '‘Isileli Pulu and Sunia Fili accused Cabinet ministers of avoiding discussion of issues that had been raised publicly during the week. The People's Representatives said the issues being avoided included the petition for the dismissal of the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers, and the call for a referendum on the issue of a more democratic form of government for Tonga.

The House, which reconvened on Thursday after two weeks of recess because of the strike, was again adjourned by the Speaker until September 19, after ministers and nobles supported a motion of adjournment, which was carried with a vote of 20-5.

Commenting later, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Veikune disagreed with the claims of the People's Representatives and pointed out that it was necessary for the House to be postponed for a week, allowing members to attend a two-days Commonwealth Parliamentary Association workshop. The workshop on "A Parliamentary Perspective on Gender Equality" will be held from September 13 and 14. He said that following the CPA workshop there would also be a Chinese parliamentary and business delegation visiting Tonga who would like to have meetings and discussions with their Tongan counterparts.

Cutting costs

The three People...’s Representatives at Friday's press conference, also said they disagreed with a request made by the Prime Minister, Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, in parliament on Thursday, September 8, for the House to close early this year.

The Prime Minister said that an early closure of parliament would save government $90,000, an amount that was needed to help pay for the salary rise of the civil servants. The house normally closes in November but the Prime Minister did not say how much early it should close.

Commenting later, Hon. Veikune said that the suggestion by the PM for the House to close early and save money to pay the salary rise that was demanded by the striking civil servants was just a general remark. He understood that government wanted to raise a million pa'anga from all government ministries, including parliament, and he had already made arrangements with his accountant on areas where they could cut costs by 50% in order to meet their contribution for this general fund of one million pa'anga.

Veikune said he felt sorry for government because in order for government to meet the 60, 70, 80% demand for salary rises, government would have to use funds that had already been allocated to certain areas, such as the building of a Royal Chapel, and the buying of new vehicles and traveling.

Veikune was optimistic that the House would not close early, "because we still have a lot of work to do," he said, pointing to a table loaded with printed materials to be distributed and debated by members of parliament before the end of its 2005 session.