From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 15, no. 3, September 2000.

Lopeti Senituli, the former Director of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, took over as the new Director of the Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement in July.

Senituli, who described himself as a “political activist”, said that he had been discussing the possibility of returning to Tonga to work for the movement with ‘Akilisi Pohiva during the past five years, “but I think this is the right time.”

When his contract with the PCRC came up for renewal early this year, Senituli decided that 12 years with the based organisation, was enough. “It was time to move on. My role here is preparing a forum, a medium through which information—critical but accurate information—is made available to the public. This is a more focused role, compared with my previous post where I was in advocacy at the international and regional level, trying to impress on international agencies how the Pacific people perceive certain issues, how we perceive decolonisation, and indigenous rights. My role here is more focused and more internal.”

Senituli said that his first task was to establish a working system and to get the movement to run properly.

Research

“At the moment, with a small staff of two, we are starting to research a number of issues. We will look at public utilities. We pay tax and we expect basic essentials, water, electricity, a medical service, and education. These are basic utilities that government must supply us with. So we are looking at government services, and asking why are they being privatised, and becoming expensive. Has government given up on its obligation? We will also address the issue of government enterprises that are supposed to bring in revenues to government, such as Royal Tongan Airlines, the Tonga Development Bank, TongaSat and Tonga Telecom. Are they for the benefit of all or only to benefit a few? We have to look at it in great detail, in a fair manner,” he said.

“We will look at the Education System, are we only training people to fill up the factories in Mangere, New Zealand, or what are we doing? Regardless of how high they pass Form 5 and 6 exams they still end up in factories in New Zealand.

“We have to address the brain drain. What has happened to Vaiola hospital, which used to offer a service that we used to be very proud of? We are not going to level blame, but to make open suggestions,” he said.

“We will also have to deal with the Chinese issue. We have to address the Chinese issue just like the Fijians with the Indians in Fiji. We have to deal with them in a way that is morally and constitutionally acceptable to everybody. They have the constitutional right to be here, but they can’t take away our homes from us.

“We have to start with an assumption that everyone is a good person, a bright person, and not assume that everyone is stupid. So we assume that the data and the information that we will be putting out can be absorbed.”

Political climate

Senituli said that they were very much aware of the current political climate, “We are aware that we have a new and a young Prime Minister who is still formulating his body of knowledge. We are aware of the historical place that Tonga is in. We are also aware that we have some very exciting young ministers in Cabinet and in Privy Council, and we would like to revolutionise the way they think and do things.”

Senituli said that by August they would have their own radio and television programs, to be followed by village seminars. He said that it had always been the intention of the movement since 1992 to adopt an educational approach, “but because no one was here to run the office and because ‘Akilisi is a politician, the focus has always been political.”

Senituli said that by next year they should have a staff of eight working full time, and by then there should be a lot of resource materials available from their office.

Church funding

He said that their recurrent budget for the next three years was around $110,000, which was being financed mainly by church related funding agencies. They had been promised funds from the Bread of the World, a development agency that is affiliated with Protestant churches in Germany. “They have pledged to give us some money during the next three years. We also have been promised some money from the World Council of Churches.

“We have written to some of the High Commissions, the British and the New Zealand, here in Nuku’alofa and have spoken to the Australian Volunteer International and the Christian World Service of New Zealand about possible assistance,” Senituli said.