The 2007 session of the Tongan Legislative Assembly will be officially opened by His Majesty King George Tupou V on Thursday, May 31.

The Deputy Secretary of the Prime Minister's office Paula Ma'u said that the king at Privy Council last week confirmed Thursday to be the opening day for the 2007 session of the Tonga Legislative Assembly.

Paula said that the opening ceremony will be held at the Queen Salote Memorial Hall at 10:30am, and the opening ceremony will also be marked by the traditional marching of Tongatapu High School students through central Nuku'alofa and the palace ground.

It is going to be the first time for King George Tupou V to open the Tonga Legislative Assembly. He closed parliament last year, at Parliament Building attended only by members of parliament and foreign diplomats. The early closure on November 23 was because of the 16/11 destruction of Nuku'alofa, and at that time central Nuku'alofa was a restricted area.

On that ocassion of the early closure of the 2006 Legislative Assembly, a lone protester, Nobel Tu'ipelehake sat outside parliament on his wheelchair in protest against the presence of some of the People's Representatives in Parliament whom he blamed for the destruction of Nuku'alofa. He told journalists at Pangai Si'i that he did not want to be in the House, "together with People's Representatives who have used terrorism as a political tool."