By Pesi Fonua

The integrity of the Tongan parliament was questioned as accusations of corruption and wrong-doing were flying in the Tongan parliament on Tuesday October 28.

The Speaker, Hon Tu'ilakepa told the House that the integrity of the House had been tarnished with infighting that had been going on in the House.

The Minister of Tourism, Hon. Fineasi Funaki, had accused People's Representative 'Akilisi Pohiva of having threatened the Speaker in order to stop a petition being presented to the House.

The petition, according to some MPs, contained claims that Pohiva had presented bad cheques.

Reacting

The minister was reacting to an opening discussion in Legislature over a motion for his impeachment that was presented to the House by 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu, Clive Edwards, 'Etuate Lavulavu, 'Uliti Uata and Teisina Fuko.

The impeachment motion was related to a foreign aid cheque of $3,000 for tourism activities that was cleared through the Minister's private bank account.

Hon. Fineasi Funaki supported the quest by the PRs to uphold the rule of law and to stop corrupt practices by members of parliament, but he queried why a petition signed by 200 people against 'Akilisi Pohiva had been struck out and was not presented to the House.

Hon. Fineasi Funaki believed that there was corruption and wrong doings in the Tongan parliament when the House's Petitions Review Committee had withheld the petition against 'Akilisi and then moved for an Amendment to the Rules for Proceeding of the Legislative Assembly, which led to the petition against 'Akilisi being struck out. He claimed that the whole process was "cleverly engineered".

Petition Review Committee

The Petition Review Committee is chaired by Hon. Afu'alo Matoto and its members are Hon. 'Alisi Taumoepeau, Noble Fielakepa, Noble Luani, Sione Teisina Fuko, Sione Feingatau 'Iloa and Samiu Vaipulu. The committee made a recommendation to the Law Committee .

On September 9 the Chair of the Law Committee, Hon. 'Alisi Taumoepeau presented to the House a proposed Amendment to the Rules for Proceeding of the Legislative Assembly, relating to how Petitions to the House are dealt with.

But the Prime Minister had requested more time to study the proposed amendment and since then there had been no report of the proposed amendment ever resurfacing in the House.

Objected

The Minister asked 'Akilisi if it was correct that he threatened the Speaker not to present the petition to the House.

'Akilisi objected to Hon. Fineasi Funaki's use of the word "threatening" and said that it was too strong a language to use.

Then Hon. Fineasi asked him, "But did you threaten the Speaker not to table the petition into the House?"

The Speaker intervened and reminded the Minister that they were not in court. While he agreed that the Minister had the right to speak out, he told both Hon. Fineasi and 'Akilisi that the truth of the matter was that the integrity of the House had been tarnished with infighting that had been going on in the House.

'Akilisi had moved for the House not to close on Thursday November 6 so that the motion to impeach the Hon. Fineasi Funaki could be debated in the House.

The House had a 15 minutes break, and when it resumed the issues of impeachment and the petition were dropped and the House proceeded with a motion by 'Etuate Lavulavu.

Private deposit

The accusation against Hon. Finasi that he deposited a $3000 cheque for the ministry into a private account has been discussed in the House on numerous occasions this year and the case was investigated by the Auditor General. The Prime Minister again told the House last week that the decision to deposit the money into a private account was known to the staff of the ministry and it was for the convenience of withdrawing the fund as petty cash and it was not stolen. The Minister had been penalised by the Prime Minister who ordered him to work without any salary over a period of time.

Petition not tabled

Meanwhile, the Deputy Clerk of the House on November 3, confirmed that the petition against 'Akilisi "has not been tabled into the House."