From the House, by Pesi Fonua.

Some simple arithmetic tells us that the House has met for only 164 hours this year - that's only 41 sittings - before they softly closed on Thursday October 21, before all their work was done.

This year's session of parliament was the first under a new system of government and a popularly elected parliament.

On Wednesday, the day before parliament closed, the Speaker requested if the House could work overtime that evening because there was still a lot of important work to be done, but because the budget of the House was very low he was asking if they could work without pay.

Then Lord Tu'ilakepa, supported by Lord Ma'afu, rejected the proposition and pointed out how it was unconstitutional to work without pay.

They were referring, probably, to the part of the Tongan Constitution that abolished slavery.

There's nothing slavish about the new House, as the small number of minutes and apparently depleted budget attest.

This year's parliament had about 41 sittings - very low compared to parliaments in previous years, which could sit as many as 80 times in a session. So considering that the Tongan parliament works only four hours a day, from 10:00 am until noon and from 2:00pm until 4:00pm, that's 4x41= 164 regular hours this year, not counting any overtime claimed.

Not finished

A number of very important issues have been left hanging. Top of the list is the budget of the House, which the Speaker cast doubts over when he pleaded with members to work overtime without pay. The Minister of Finance had also expressed his concern over excessive overtime payment to parliamentary staff and meeting fees for Standing Committees meetings.

Some interesting legislation has been left partially debated and it is uncertain whether or not they will ever be presented for public consultation. This includes "A Bill for the reinstating of the British and Wales Statutes of General Application".

Until it was repealed in 2003, the Statutes of General Application allowed the Tongan judiciary to draw on the body of British law, where there were gaps in Tongan law.

Now, the new Minister of Justice Hon. Clive Edwards, who was also in Cabinet who severed that connection to British law, has reintroduced the Bill for the reinstating of the Statutes of General Application.

The bill caused a bit of a stir in the House because members were concerned over the fact that lending banks are taking possession of the lands and personal property of borrowers. The House had earlier voted in favour of a motion for the Bill to be tabled into the Law Committee before it was reintroduced into the House.

Other concerns

Other concerns that were left hanging included:

- a sudden turnabout by Cabinet over the well publicized move by the new government to establish an Anti-Corruption Commission;

- concern over when a Lord Chancellor, an Attorney General and a Police Commissioner will be appointed;

- concern over the non-existence of a project to export Tongan root crops overseas;

- concern over a due diligence report on the Tonga Development Bank, with the possibility of it being sold;

- the long awaited report by the Parliamentary Committee on NDC, particularly since the drawn down of the Chinese loan will be completed in March 2012.

- concern over the proposed closure of the Tonga Maritime Poly-technical Institute;

Apart from those hanging concerns, Lord Vaea pointed out in the closing speech of parliament, a few things that offered hope for a bright future for Tonga.

He reaffirmed that a Lord Chancellor and an Attorney General would be appointed soon, and said that a panel of people who are responsible for the selection were still trying to identify the most appropriate people for those positions.

The construction of a solar power system by a New Zealand company, Meridian, with assistance from the New Zealand government and the World Bank to supplement the use of diesel for the production of electricity, would bring down the cost of electricity. There was a hope that a similar project would be established in Vava'u.

A tank farm would be established in Nuku'alofa, so that bigger oil tankers could come straight to Tonga from Singapore, and it could bring down the price of fuel.

The planned Fibre Optic Cable Network, would also boost communication between Tonga and overseas countries.

Finally, the one positive thing that had happened for Tonga this year was the popularity of the 'Ikale Tahi in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which Lord Vaea believed would attract many visitors to Tonga.

Soft

It was mentioned in the House for parliament to reconvene in February 2012, but a date was not confirmed.

The closure of the 2011 of the Tongan parliament by Lord Vaea, Lord Ma'afu and Lord Fakafanua on Thursday, 20 October was what they called "a Soft Closure". It was, in fact, so soft that many people did not know about it until an email with a royal speech made by Lord Vaea, and a photograph of the three lords, began circulating by mid-day that day.

When the Tongan parliament is closed neither by the king nor by a royal regent, it is referred to as a soft closing, without the fanfare of schools' brass bands music, marching students or the 21 gun salutes that stir up a lot of excitement on the streets of Nuku'alofa on such a day.

Breaks

So far this year the parliament has been opened twice, first by the Princess Regent, Princess Pilolevu on January 13. This very early opening allowed the swearing in of new Cabinet Ministers and the representatives of the nobles and the people, and the passing of a couple of pieces of legislation, including a bill to amend the constitution.

On the evening of January 14, the Speaker, Lord Lasike deferred the proceeding of the House until further notice, and it did not reconvene until it was formally opened by HM King George Tupou V on June 2.

So officially, parliament has been in proceeding since January, but during that time there were a number of breaks when the House was not in session, while the seven Standing Committees of the House were meeting. The Standing Committees were then perceived to be the work-horses for the House, which were supposed to deal with various issues before they were represented to the House with recommendations from the Committee. Under the new parliament there are seven Standing Committees, compared to only two in the previous parliament.