Editor,

Since Nov 16, I have not been able to rest nor sleep with peace contemplating the fate of our beloved country and the future of my children as Tongans. I have never been appalled and ashamed to be a Tongan in my whole life but at the same time I have been very relieved to see that a great number of Tongans have denounced what happened and hold the "pro-democracy" leaders responsible for the events of Nov 16th. It is a shame that all these acts of anarchy, violence and devastation have been in the name of "democracy" and I call upon the old "regime" of pro-democrats to retire, go back to the plantation and leave the space for democratic and reform work for new people who are genuinely going to benefit the country as a whole. While i am a reformer at heart and wish to see a more representative government for Tonga, I will rather die than leave the future of our beloved country to the likes of those that are in the present "pro-democracy" group of leaders. They're all irresponsible and inconsistent and right now while the present government is tirelessly working to rebuild the country, they're still playing the blame game and hoping to redeem their popularity in a populace that has lost faith in them. I pray that what has happened will open the door for fresh new leadership - we certainly have the human capital - and ask that the old regime of old bags in the pro-democracy movement return home and give the next generation a chance to bring about a more enlightened, human rights oriented and peaceful Tonga. And we can still do this even with a monarch -- reform takes time and evolutionary democracy is the better option than the over-night unrealistic form that Pohiva, Uata, Edwards, Saulala and associates are dreaming about. I also want to say that I never saw a bunch of shifty people than these opportunists. I will always remember Clive Edwards as the government's right hand man back in the days when he was instrumental in securing Shoreline for the Crown Prince & the Ramanlals and now he's crying wolf over the milk that he spilt. For Tonga to really move forward, we need to really employ a more enlightened group of young leaders to take up the cause for change as it is the future of our children that has been destroyed by the mindless acts of power-hungry individuals who are conveniently blaming government for what will go down in history as the day Tonga perished. We all know though, those individuals who will go down in history as the architects and organisers of that destruction and it certainly will not be the government.

God Bless Tonga & its Future.

Tonu Melino

tonu_melino [at] yahoo [dot] com