From the House by Pesi Fonua

The Tongan Parliament degenerated to a one-party political system yesterday afternoon, 12 March, when the only Members left in the House were Cabinet Ministers and their supporters, after the Noble's Representatives walked out, along with three People's Representatives, Tevita Lavemaau, Siaosi Sovaleni and Samiu Vaipulu, after the 3:00pm tea break.

During the morning session Noble's Representative Lord Nuku told the House that during a government radio dialogue on Monday 11 March, over the six urgent bills that government had withdrawn  from the House, there were only 21 phone calls from the public involved in the dialogue.

Lord Nuku, stressed to the House that although the Attorney General had explained the Bills but the callers wanted to talk to either the Prime Minister or the Minister of Justice, Hon. Vuna Fa’otusia. “They wanted to know the Government's intention with the Bills.”

The six Bills are:

• Constitution of Tonga Amendment Bill 2019
• Constitution of Tonga Amendment Bill 2019 No. 2.
• Tonga Police Amendment) Bill 2019-03-12
• Magistrate’s Court (Amendment) Bill 2019-03-12
• Judicial and Legal Service Commission Bill 2019
• National Spatial Planning and Management (Amendment) Bill 2019.

The Prime Minister responded that the six bills were government bills and that “we have the right to consult the public, and the Attorney General is the right man for that.”

Lord Nuku insisted that once the Prime Minister with his Cabinet Ministers held public consultation with the public, they should return to the House and proceed with the normal procedure of processing Bills in the House.

However, the upheaval in the House erupted after members returned from their lunch break at 2:00pm, when the Speaker Lord Fakafanua announced that the Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva had a meeting with his Cabinet Ministers after lunch. The PM and his Ministers wanted to inform the House of their reaction to issues that had been raised in the House about how government is consulting the public about the six Bills. They had tabled thebills into the House as urgent, and then later withdrew them to conduct their own consultation with the public, before resubmitting them to the House.

The Minister for Finance, Hon. Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa wanted to inform the House of what Cabinet had agreed on during their lunch break. He said that they had agreed that the consultation relating to the Bills that were about to be resubmited to the Houuse was the best outcome of any consultation. He said that they did not believe that the consultation process that Lord Nuku proposed would work, so they would continue with their current consultation process.

Lord Tu'i'afitu queried that after the Bills were resubmitted to the House, could a public consultation be carried out?  

The Speaker, Lord Fakafanua responded that it could be done.

But People's Representative Siaosi Sovaleni pointed out that if the Bills were submitted to the House as “Urgent”, they had to be deliberated over by the House.

Lord Tu'ilakepa called for the House to be closed. “Let's all go home!”

He suggested that they should bring in the psychiatrist Dr Mapa Puloka to check the Cabinet Ministers and some of the People’s Representatives from the outer islands.

Following the afternoon tea break Lord Nuku in the Whole House Committee moved for the proceedings to revert back to Legislature. There was no response from the Chairman of the Whole House Committee and so he announced that they were leaving the House.

Lord Nuku, Lord Tu’ilakepa, Lord Fusitu’a and Lord Tu’iha’angana left parliament.

People's Representative Samiu Vaipulu moved for the House to break for the day, then Tevita Lavemaau moved for the committee to vote and pass the Bill.

The Prime Minister however pointed out that Tevita Lavemaau and Siaosi Sovaleni were leaving the House. Later on Samiu Vaipulu also walked out from the House.

The Speaker, later called for the House to close, and to resume at 10am the following day, Wednesday March 13..