From the House by Pesi Fonua

The six “Urgent Bills” of the Prime Minister that the House was supposed to deal with when it extended its proceedings from 14 March to 27 March, remain in limbo.

When parliament opened for its last sitting of the week yesterday, Thursday 21 March, the Prime Minister Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva reminded the Acting Speaker, Lord Tu’ilakepa that the Cabinet were still waiting to debate over the urgent Bills.

The Speaker responded, “I have made a decision. You said you were going to take it to court. Let's end it there. I am following the procedure.”

Deadlock

When Parliament closed on Monday, March 28 there was a deadlock over a demand by Lord Tu’ilakepa for the Prime Minister to explain why the six Bills he had tabled into parliament were urgent.

There was a fierce debate over the difference in meaning of the English and the Tongan versions of the House’s Rules of Procedure. Under the English version –  it states that the House shall consider as ‘matters of urgency’  any Bills certified by the Prime Minister in a written letter to the Speaker as urgent.

However in the Tongan version it spells out  -“ngaahi Lao Fakaangaanga kuo fakamo’oni mai ‘e he Palemia ‘I ha tohi ki he ‘Eiki Sea ‘o fakaha ai ko e me’a fakavavevave.”

The Speaker stressed that under the Tongan version, the Prime Minister had to provide proof that the Bills were urgent, and he hadn’t.

Under the Tongan Constitution, the Tongan version of the laws is the dominant version.

On Tuesday, 19 March the Speaker stayed with his decision for the Bills to be tabled into the House’s Standing Committee on Legislations.

The Minister of Police, Hon. Mateni Tapueluelu responded to the Speaker’s decision, by saying that they would impeach him.

Limbo

So when the Prime Minister expressed a view yesterday that they were waiting to the Bills to be tabled into the House, the Bills were clearly left in limbo.