PM warns hatred against him could cause national upheaval [1]
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 - 12:26
From the House by Pesi Fonua
The Prime Minister Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva warned parliament yesterday, 2 October, that hatred in the House against him and his government could escalate to a national upheaval.
Lord Nuku responded that there was no hatred in the House, and they were debating a report of the Auditor General.
The PM responded, it was good if he was not one of them.
Lord Tu’ivakano, recited a Tongan saying - ‘ai ho ngutu ke tatau moho tuhu’, ‘to use his mouth, the same way as you use your hands’. He reminded the PM that he had brought a number of court cases against him and were still coming “but they will all return to you.”
The PM then apologised if he did something wrong.
Before the PM issued his warning of a possible national upheaval, he started off the proceedings in the Legislature when he asked the Speaker to allow him to table to the House two Cabinet Decisions that had been distributed to members.
The Speaker told the PM that he could not present the Cabinet Decisions because they were still in English, and had to be translated to Tongan before they could be debated in the House.
However, the PM insisted that he would present in Tongan and then proceeded with the two Cabinet Decisions.
The Cabinet Decisions responded to an issue that was mentioned in the Auditor’s Report relating to missing furniture from a government Quarter No. 81 [previously occupied by the PM]. Members had referred to the missing furniture as stolen.
Quarter 81 was renovated and furnished for the PM after a house fire at his family home. When he left Quarter 81 and moved to a new place, the PM took the furniture with him.
According to the PM, the furniture was stored in another government property, but he took the king-size bed with him.
When the missing furniture and the king-size bed was mentioned in the Auditor’s report, some members were convinced that they were stolen.
Lord Tu’ilakepa said that once the furniture was moved from where it should be, the items were stolen.
The Vava’u People Representative No. 17 Samiu Vaipulu, a lawyer, pointed out that the items were supposed to remain in Quarter 81. Being stolen was moving them an inch from where they should be to a different place.
The PM was not in the House on Monday October 1, but he said he heard it on radio.
He presented two Cabinet decisions. Firstly, for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take $150,000 from the government Emergency Fund and fix a building for the PM.
The second Cabinet decision was for the PM to move and use a building that had been used by a former Chief Justice.
The PM said that he interpreted that the decision for him to move from Quarter 81 to the former Chief Justice’s residence, was for him to move and take all the furniture with him. He said he did not know the bed he took was a king-size bed; he was still using the bed, but the rest of the furniture was stored away in a government storage.
Opposition
Despite the fact that some of the issues that were raised in the Auditor’s Annual Report had not been dealt with, the Chairman of the Whole House Committee, Hon. Veivosa Light of Day Taka called for votes on the Auditor’s 2016-17 Annual Report that the House had been debating since September 27. It was carried 11-8. Against were Samiu Vaipulu, Siaosi Sovaleni, Tevita Lavemaau, Lord Tu‘ilakepa, Lord Tu‘ivakano, Lord Nuku, Lord Tu‘iha‘angana and Lord Tu‘i‘afitu.