by Pesi Fonua

A Road Map for political and constitutional reform in Tonga, is how Dr Sitiveni Halapua describes the report of the National Committee for Political Reform that he presented to the Tongan Parliament last week.

Chairman of the NCPR and author of the report Dr Halapua, however, warns that Tonga's Road Map is not a programmed computer, "to direct you, saying left, right, straight. No, it is not like that. It needs to be read and to be understood before you start driving. It means you have to work hard, you have to read, think and act."

The NCPR report, drawn up after six months of consultations with Tongans at home and abroad, recommends that a new 26-member parliament be made up of 17 People's Representatives to be elected by the people, and nine Noble's Representatives to be elected by the 33 nobles of the realm.

 

"We have this dual system working side by side, and that in itself provides the beauty of the system as well as the complexity of the state and the nation of Tonga. We are trying to look at an appropriate reform... to a complex duality, the structure of the society, which is in the nature of our own identity of who we are as Tongans." - Dr Sitiveni Halapua.

The two recommendations for an elected parliament that he considers to be, "fundamental to the whole report, and therefore it is very important they be fully understood," are made in chapter five of the nine chapters report, which has been presented to members of parliament sitting over six days.

"They might disagree with it or they might change it for a different variant, but I think it is important to note that even though these two recommendations are stated separately they are actually organically intertwined, meaning you cannot take one without the other."

The first recommendation, no. 9.I, proposes for the people and the nobles to elect all the member of the Tongan parliament, while no. 9.II recommends for the king to appoint a Prime Minister from the elected members, and for the Prime Minister to remain a Prime Minister indefinitely. The Prime Minister then appoints his Cabinet Ministers from the elected members.

Dr Halapua said those who disagree with the recommendations, would like to remain with the status quo.

Balanced Will

He said that at this stage it is important for the House and the government to make a definite decision on these two recommendations.

"The two recommendations are an attempt to strike a balance between those who really want a change to the system and those who want to preserve the system. So it is an attempt to implement what we called a Balanced Will, not majority will or minority will, but with a new Tongan concept Balanced Will - napangapanga malie or potupotu tatau. The fundamental of one is to preserve the status quo, and the other more democratic is to bring in accountability.

"Once they agree on that, the next stage is the legalistic aspect of the recommendation or the amended recommendation they wish to accept and adopt."

Dual system

With regards to an overwhelming desire by the people for the traditional social hierarchical structure to remain intact, and for a political reform to take place only in the executive part of government, Dr Halapua said "to some extent it kind of surprised me. And I think there lies the problem and the complexity of the Tongan society. On one hand you have the modern element of a modern state, a modern nation, the system, the government the laws, the constitution and so forth, but then on the other hand, there is a dual perception of being a Tongan. There is a dual perception of our own identity. The western element of education, health, the way we run the state, our concern about accountability, the rule of laws, those sort of things. Then, on the other hand, we have this traditional element of our identity. We have the chiefs, we have the kainga, we have the Ha'a. And it is very clear, if you go to any Tongan funeral, ordinary funeral, you arrive there, there is a way to arrive at the funeral, this is the traditional way, you can't just arrive. That is the traditional aspect, regardless of our position in the society, we have a way of connecting ourselves to the chiefs, which is more than 1,000 years old. We have this dual system working side by side, and that in itself provides the beauty of the system as well as the complexity of the state and the nation of Tonga.

"We are trying to look at an appropriate reform...…to a complex duality, the structure of the society, which is in the nature of our own identity of who we are as Tongans."

Dr Halapua said that to move forward to the next step after the presentation of the NCPR Report to parliament, the chapter 9 makes recommendations for various phases of action, "for example, there is a phase for 2006, 2007 and 2008 and with each phase there is a timetable, and what chapter to re-look at and what needs to be done."

Positive move forward

Dr Halapua completed presenting his report to the Tongan Parliament on October 12 on a positive note.

"The parliament agreed to change the sitting of parliament, and to have a committee process to allow me as a non-member into the House to present the report and to respond to their questions and answers. That is a very good indication that they are taking on the report. In what form it will come out at the end is something that is beyond the mandate of the committee," he said.

"The report is meant to be read, understood, shared, before action is taken. In another words, you have to work hard and think hard, it is the only way we can move forward."

Prince Tu'ipelehake

Dr Halapua also commented on the impact of the sudden death of HRH the late Prince Tu'ipelehake, the founding chairman of the NCPR.

"There are several dimensions to that, first was the international, the death of HRH made headlines all around the world and that brought the importance of the work to the international scene. The other dimension is national, it also bought the attention of the people to the work. In Tonga there was a sense of appreciation, particularly for his vision for the country. His idea preceded the strike."