Ministers to outnumber other Members in proposed new Tongan parliament [1]
Thursday, August 9, 2007 - 13:33. Updated on Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 11:51.
The reform model proposed for the new Tongan parliament will have more Cabinet Ministers than all other Members of Parliament combined, allowing the Prime Minister and the King to appoint probably 15 or even up to 19 ministers in a 26 member House.
The actual number of ministers proposed was not made clear, but Tonga currently has 15 Ministries. The King will also be allowed to appoint four ministers but a letter of recommendation from the Tripartite Committee presented to the House did not state whether this would be additional or inclusive to the current 15.
The committee simply recommended that the House be composed of 26 elected members, being nine Nobles' Representatives and 17 People's Representatives. Then the Ministers would be selected from this number.
Nothing was said about replacing the members who were selected as ministers or how this might affect the total number of seats in the House. It appears the Tripartite Committee are recommending that the split be at least 15 members of Government (ministers), leaving 11 other representatives combined. Or, perhaps, 19 members of government (ministers), leaving only seven other representatives combined.
It appears the Tripartite Committee is recommending something like a one party system of government dominated by executives.
From the House, an English translation summary from the Tongan vernacular, by Pesi Fonua. Tonga Legislative Assembly, Minute No. 17, Monday August 6, 2007.
The Tongan parliament got off to a flying start when it reconvened on Monday, August 6 after a month-long break.
It approved the inclusion of the Vava'u No. 1 People's Representative Samiu Vaipulu as an additional member of the Parliamentary Tripartite Committee for Political Reform. It heard the recommendations by the committee for political reform and agreed to give them another month to complete their work.
The House also passed the Electricity Power Act 2007 and the termination of the Electric Power Board.
The Speaker said that parliament may be closed in August, allowing government time to prepare for the Pacific Forum Meeting in October.
Tripartite Committee
After Samiu Vaipulu expressed his disappointment with the exclusion of the Vava'u PRs in the Parliamentary Tripartite Committee for Political Reform, and said that such a move made life lighter than a "cigarette paper", the House consented that he become a member of the Committee.
The Tripartite Committee for Political Reform, which was mandated by the House to compile a report on the need for political reform by government, the Nobles' Representatives and the People's Representatives presented to the House with four recommendations, after three weeks of consultation.
In a letter to the House the chairman of the committee, Noble Luani listed their recommendations:
1. For the House to be composed of 26 elected members, being nine Nobles' Representatives and 17 People's Representatives. The 26 elected members to elect a Prime Minister who in turn appoints his Cabinet Ministers from the 26 elected members. The king may also appoint four more ministers of his choice, either from the elected members or from outside the House. These Cabinet Ministers appointed by the Prime Minister must have the consent of the king.
2. For a parliamentary term to be not less than four years and not more than five years. The reason given was because they figured that it usually takes four to five years for an application for aid funds to be processed -and this money should be released before the parliamentary term is up "to show to the people that the House has been working hard".
3. The Committee agreed in principal to the idea of a constituency electorate, but with regards to the residency of a candidate, they needed more time to think about it.
The two other issues that the committee was still discussing, were whether to have a Single Candidate Constituency or a Multi-candidate Constituency.
4. The Committee also recommended for more work, with the assistance of outside experts on the voting system. There was a concern over the fact that fewer registered voters were voting at elections. They suggested for studies to be carried out on a single transferable vote or preferential voting and one person one vote. The committee did not have any time to look at the Nobles' voting procedure.
More time
The Chairman requested for the House to give the committee one more month to complete its work. The request was granted with a vote of 22-0, but the Speaker told the House that Parliament may be closed in August because by September government will start preparing for the Pacific Forum meeting in October.
Electric Power Act
In the Whole House Committee debate started on the Bills for the Electric Power Act 2007 and for an act to terminate the Electric Power Board. Once these Bills become acts they will terminate the Electric Power Board, legalise the formation of a Commission, which will be responsible for regulating the generation and the distribution of electricity in Tonga.
Clive Edwards, a former chairman of the Tonga Electric Power Board when the generation and the distribution of electricity were transferred over to Shoreline Power said that the reason why Shoreline took over was because the Board was bankrupt. "They could not get any capital funds to buy generators." Clive supported the Bill, but he stressed that the business of electricity generation and distribution should not go to an overseas company but should remain on Tongan hands, "it is better with the devils we know than with the devils we don't know," he said.
'Uliti Uata opposed a clause in the Bill, which stated that the Minister of Finance, the chairman of the Commission was to select the members of the Commission to be approved by the King in Council. He believed that there was a conflict of interest with the involvement of the king in the selection of members of the Commission. He suggested for the appointment of members of the Commission to be left to the House. He also proposed for the House to established a committee to assess the real value of Shoreline Power before it is bought back by government. He was very suspicious on the variation of figures that had been presented. He said that initially it was $71-$80 million, but when Shoreline was negotiating to sell to North Power the figures dropped $25 million, so he wanted the House to have its own committee to assess the real value.
The Minister of Tourism explained to the member the reasons for the variations. He said that the initial figures for the total assets of the company was estimated to be $70-$80 millions, and when they were negotiating with North Power, only part of the assets was needed by North Power and so that was why the figures dropped to $25 million. But since 16/11 the figures would be different.
Not a bright idea
The Minister of Justice did not think it was a bright idea for the House to establish an assessment committee because such a task has to be carried out by a reputable specialised overseas company, and the evaluation of Shoreline assets have always been carried out by such companies, and not by a parliamentary committee.
The Minister also reminded the member that the appointment of the members of the Commission was a responsibility of the executive, Cabinet and not of the House. The Minister also reminded the member that in September last year the Lord Chamberlain announced that the king was surrendering all his business interests.
Shoreline's assets
'Akilisi Pohiva wondered if government has any money to buy the Shoreline's assets which he estimated to worth about $60 million. He was concerned that since it was certain that government would take back Shoreline's assets, he wondered if government has any money.
The Minister of Justice reminded the member that government has been working on the project to buy back the assets of Shoreline for some time. The question of whether there is money, is a responsibility of the Minister of Finance, and a company Tonga Power Ltd has been formed to take over the generation and the distribution of power from Shoreline. Tonga Power Ltd is 50% owned by government and the other 50% will be sold to the public.
'Isileli Pulu queried about the PRs motion for a resolution that was presented to the House on July 1, proposing for certain number of shares to be given to the people.
Motion wanted power shares for 'Akilisi and Sangstar
Noble Tu'ipelehake suggested that most of the PRs should not participate in the debate because of their conflict of interest. He reminded them that in their motion 'Akilisi was to have the most shares, and the rest were minor shareholders, including Sengi (Sangstar Saulala).
'Akilisi suggested to be included in the Bill for Nobles' and People's Representatives to be members of the Commission. The Minister of Justice reminded the member that they had already passed Clause 4, which stated that the Minister of Finance, the Chairman of the Commission may appoint the person with the appropriate skills to be members of the Commission.
The Bills for a Power Commission 2007 Act and an Act to terminate the Electric Power Board were passed with votes of 16-0 in all their first, second and third readings.