A group of Tongan People's Representatives are calling for the resignation of Tonga's Prime Minister, Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, after boycotting the opening of the Tonga Legislative Assembly by the King this morning.

Tongatapu People's Representative, Fred Sevele, said that they did not attend the opening of the 2004 parliamentary session because they were, "disappointed that the Prime Minister's lack of action as chairman of the failed Royal Tongan Airlines has caused millions of dollars of the people's money to be frittered away.

"The decision was to show our displeasure at the rest of Parliament and government for not taking notice of things when we are saying we should do things differently for the sake of the people," he said.

Seven of the nine people's MPs have joined the boycott, but they do not include the two Vava'u People's Representatives, one of whom was unable to reach the capital because of the failure of Tonga's main air and sea transportation services over the last week. 'Etuate Lavulavu was the only People's Representative to attend the opening.

In his opening address to parliament this morning, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV (85) appeared not to notice that the People's Representatives were missing, and he welcomed them in his speech.

Meanwhile, Fred Sevele said that now that the Royal Commission Report on the airline had been made public, it pointed to failures of decision making.

"The Royal Commission report is in effect a vote of no confidence by Privy Council, because the commission was established by Privy Council," claimed Sevele.

"The Prime Minister has said that he would bite the bullet and stand by the consequences, and now we have lost millions of dollars from the Tonga Trust Fund and the Royal Tongan Airline, both of which he was chairman of, we are asking him to stand by his words. He should fall on his sword. All this shows that the Prime Minister is not competent and incapable of leading government," Sevele claimed.