The destiny of a petition to the King on 20 October to revoke the appointment of the Prime Minister, Hon. Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva as the Minister of Education, and Hon. ‘Etuate Lavulavu as the Acting Minister of Education is in a limbo.

The petition signed by more than 900 people was presented to the Palace Office by the former Minister of Education, Dr ‘Ana Taufe’ulungaki, accompanied by a former CEO of Education, Dr Viliami Fukofuka; Lady ‘Eseta Fusitu’a; a former CEO of Education, ‘Emeli Pouvalu; and the Director of the USP Tonga Campus, Dr ‘Ana Koloto.

‘Emeli speaking prior to the presentation of the petition to the King said that the two cabinet ministers had abused their position with conflict of interest, nepotism, and by breaking the laws and the regulations of the Ministry. She claimed that the petitioners had evidence to support their claims.

However, during the third week of November information from the Office of the Lord Chamberlain was that the petition had been passed on to the Ombudsman.

‘Emeli, the spokesperson for the petitioners, said that the group would await to hear from the Ombudsman.

The Office of an Ombudsman in Tonga, however, remains obscure because a bill to amend the Commissioner for Public Relations (Amendment) Bill 2012 and change it to an Ombudsman Act 2012, although passed by parliament has not been enacted.

According to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Relations,even though that the Ombudsman Act 2012 has not been enacted but alternatively the Public Service (Amendment) Act 2012 refers to "the Office of the Commissioner of Public Relations (Ombudsman)", and therefore officially there is an "Ombudsman".

The Prime Minister’s Office in a statement last week, 23 November said that, “His Majesty is not empowered in law to require the Minister to divest himself of the Education and Training portfolio as the Sovereign must act on the advice of the Prime Minister in the appointment of members of the Legislative Assembly to ministerial office or in respect of the Minister’s removal from office.”

‘Emeli said she was well aware that the Sovereign must act on the advice of the Prime Minister, but as she explained on Tuesday 20 October when they presented their petition to the Palace Office – “The person we would like to revoke is also the Prime Minister. There is also a clause in the Constitution that talks about how the King can revoke the appointment of a minister on the grounds that he is ineligible for the role – so that’s the grounds that we are standing on.”