From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.

Tongans responded with shock and outrage after the New Zealand Foreign Ministry publicly accused the Tongan government of corruption, expressing concern about the state of democracy in the country and saying that the Tongan government appeared reluctant to introduce constitutional changes.

The New Zealand accusations in February peaked a run of negative comments about Tonga in the overseas press, particularly in New Zealand, during the months leading up to Tonga’s March General Election.

The statement by the high officials in the New Zealand Foreign Service is considered by some political analysts to be unprecedented in the history of the relationship between the two countries. They believe that the using of the term “corruption” was over-generalised, and the would-be whistle blowers were unable to point out a single act of corruption, which might have had a devastating affect on the life of the people.

One retired Tongan senior public servant said it was the first time ever that he had heard of a Minister from another country making such an accusation about the Tongan government and it was, “out right meddling in the internal affairs of Tonga without any evidence.”

The New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs Phil Goff told the AFP news agency that he was concerned about how New Zealand aid to Tonga was spent, and said that New Zealand was instituting measures to ensure that its aid to Tonga was not “subverted by corruption”. Under the same breath he was also reported as saying that, “regrettably little sign of major constitutional change is on the horizon,” for Tonga.

Mr Goff’s comments followed an earlier outburst by New Zealand Associate Minister for Foreign Affairs, Matt Robson, who said, “We give NZD $6 million a year to Tonga, but there are people who profit at the expense of the people because of their hold over the country. I’m talking about the Royal Family and their connections.”

Robson went on to say, “the Tongan Government, and those close to it, show all signs of endemic corruption. It’s been a no-no to discuss this publicly, based on the premise that if we don’t influence them, someone else will. But the policies we’ve been following have not advanced the interests of the Tongan people – they’ve gone backwards.”

The outburst from the New Zealand Foreign Ministry shocked the Tongan government. The Tongan Prime Minister, Prince ‘Ulukalala Lavaka Ata called a Press Conference, the first he had called since he became Prime Minister in 1999. With a solemn face, and deliberate expression that contained his anger, he expressed his surprise with the comments from New Zealand, and said that the relationship between the two countries had reached a turning point. The Prime Minister’s speech was probably the most defining of his career so far (see page 20).

New low

If the relationship between Tonga and New Zealand had reached a turning point in mid-February, by the end of February, the New Zealand Herald reported it to have reached a new low, when Matt Robson warned Tonga to abide by the UN Human Rights Declaration. “The Tongan government is well aware that the NZ Government wants respect for human rights,” he taunted.

What human right violations Tonga had committed was not clarified, and over the following weeks Robson declined to make clear, telling Matangi Tonga, “he would reply in due course,” but he never did.

But Robson’s statements on Human Rights came after Tongan police detained for questioning of the Secretary of the Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement, ‘Akilisi Pohiva, and two employees of the movement, after Police seized two versions of a letter in their office. The letters, one signed and one unsigned on what appeared to be a Palace Office letter head, will be used as evidence to support charges of fraud.

A signed copy of the letter, which made it appear that Tonga’s King held a huge wealth in overseas bank accounts, was published in Pohiva’s newsletter Kele‘a and another newspaper. But after the Police seized an unsigned copy of the same letter, in the Movement’s offices criminal charges were laid against some of the members. The Movement’s Director, Lopeti Senituli immediately issued a public apology on television to the King and the People of Tonga, and disassociated himself from the letters, which he said he now believed to have dubious origins.

The courts will decide whether or not the letters were a pre-election hoax, and who was responsible. ‘Akilisi Pohiva, his son Po‘oi, his daughter Laucala, and ‘Isileli Pulu a THRDM employee, who was a successful candidate in the March election, have all been charged with criminal offences.

Meanwhile, in the absence of any clarification from Robson, some people believe that it was the publishing of the letter, which sparked off the accusations from the New Zealand Foreign Service.  

Strategy

A Tongan political scientist, Dr Malalai Koloamatangi, who lives in New Zealand, visited Tonga to observe the parliamentary election. He believed that the outspoken stance made by the New Zealand Foreign Service was part of a working strategy of the new coalition in Wellington in order to re-align its relationship with Tonga.

He said that this was the first time that the New Zealand government had come out to the open and criticised the Tongan government. Malakai said that in the past there were discussions in private, but New Zealand had always considered the diplomatic relationship between the two countries as something very precious— but not this time. Malakai believed that the new electoral system in New Zealand and the way the government was structured now would change the way New Zealand handled its foreign affairs.

At the end of the day the relationship between the two countries was at its lowest point ever, a tangible depression, as Tongans, and not only those in govenment,  tried to understand the scorn coming from one of their nearest neighbours.