Dear Editor,

I feel I have to write in support of Laki Niu's constitutional protest. Living in the UK where we are blessed with a centuries old democracy I feel we owe it to any nation to support their drive towards democracy.

Tonga is not a country which makes it into the international news regularly and it isn't a powerful, oil-rich nation, but its people are peaceful and law-abiding and I would hate to watch another country be forced into civil war in order to obtain a democratic government or remain peaceful and continue to live under tyrannical rule.

I offer Laki my support and hope that he, Lopeti Senituli and Clive Edwards can put aside their differences and create a force to be reckoned with to give Tonga the democratic government it, like every other nation, deserves.

Ruth Teasdale

London, UK.

laurasmith2911 [at] hotmail [dot] com