Can the Monarchy pull Tonga through its Economic and Constitutional Crisis? [1]
Monday, December 1, 2003 - 09:45. Updated on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - 16:15.
Matangi Tonga, Vol. 18, No. 3
Under Tonga's Constitutional Monarchy system of Government the final executive decision-making power remains with the King.
Therefore the burden of finding a solution to Tonga's current economic and Constitutional crises rests squarely on the shoulders of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.
The other two people who can make decisions to change the direction of events in the country are the Crown Prince Tupouto'a, or his sister, Princess Pilolevu Tuita, when they become respectively Prince Regent or Princess Regent when the king goes abroad.
The two crises which are facing the country right now, are a stuggling national airline, in which government has invested millions of pa'anga, with the hope that it will become the saviour of a depressed economy, but it has been reported to be rapidly on the way to becoming insolvent.
The airline problem has been further aggravated by a political reaction from the public following a call to boycott the airline when government pushed ahead and changed the Constitution, passing legislation to control Free Speech and the Freedom of the Press. The king must sign the legislation before it comes into effect.
It is now up to Tonga'.s 85-year-old king to pull the country out of this current crisis.