From the House, by Pesi Fonua

Tonga's Parliament started its 2016 proceedings this morning 1 February, by pondering its casualties over the holidays.

The speaker, Lord Tu’ivakano informed members that since parliament’s closure in October 2015 two of the 26 members of the House had lost their seats.

The People's Representative for the Tongatapu Constituency No. 4, Mateni Tapueluelu lost his seat on 11 December 2015 under a Supreme Court Decision that declared his election in the 29 November 2014 election was unlawful.

Lord Tu’ivakano also told the House that last week on 29 January, Chief Justice Paulsen informed him that the election of ‘Etuate Lavulavu as the People's Representative for the Vava’u Constituency No. 16 on 29 November 2014 was unlawful.

Under his authority as the Speaker of  the Tongan parliament, Lord Tu'ivakano officially declared that ‘Etuate Lavulavu had been dismissed from parliament as of today and he is not allowed into Parliament.

The Speaker also explained that the other member who lost his seat, Mateni Tapueluelu, had appealed against the court decision. The Court of Appeal would make a decision in April and if Mateni loses his appeal there will be a by-election on 26 May 2016.

Off-track

The goings on in the House got a bit too hot in the afternoon and the Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva went completely off track, but somehow no one, not even the Deputy Speaker who was presiding over the proceedings of Parliament, corrected him.

However, the rambling by the Prime Minister was a revelation of the state of our government and our Parliament.

Following the afternoon tea break, an item in the agenda was a report by the Speaker of a meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) that he had attended last year from 24-26 November in Darwin, Australia.

The report was not read in the House, but the Prime Minister and members of the House had copies in front of them.

Unfortunately, PM Pohiva thought that the report was a speech that the Speaker Lord Tu’ivakano was intending to make at a CPA meeting that he was going to.

The Prime Minister said that it was irrelevant to go on about the importance for Speakers to preserve the integrity of the House. “We already know the 10 Commandments,” he said.

PM Pohiva wanted to know who was going to represent Tonga at this CPA meeting, and he said that they should write a new speech for him to deliver.

He then went on about how unimpressed he had been with meetings of so-called leaders that he had attended since he became Prime Minister, he said that all they brought to meetings were their problems, no solutions. In the end he believed the only solution was to read the Bible.

Lord Nuku, reminded the Prime Minister that the Tongan Parliament used to have a  Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Chapter, and through the CPA a lot of Commonwealth assistance came to Tonga. He warned the Prime Minister that he had touched on a sensitive issue and he should leave the CPA alone because they had helped Tonga a lot.

Lord Nuku moved for the House to pass the report of the Speaker on the meeting of the CPA that he attended in Darwin in November 2015.

He pleaded with the PM to leave the CPA alone.

PM Pohiva apologised for his speech.

The report of the Speaker, Lord Tu’ivakano on the CPA meeting he attended was carried 19-0.