by Pesi Fonua

'‘Etuate Lavulavu, (46) the Vava'u No. 2 People's Representative to the Tongan Parliament for the past three-years is seeking a second term in the House.

'Etuate, the owner of a fast food take-away business in Nuku'alofa's main road, had a colourful first term as a Tongan Parliamentarian. He has been apprehended by the FBI in the USA, where he fought fraud charges for immigration offences, while on home ground he's been the odd ball in the People's seats, walking in while they were walking out, and not only telling other members to "shut up" but threatening to punch them if they did not. On one occasion last year he was suspended for three days for fist fighting in the House.

But 'Etuate today prefers to be recognised for his educational achievement as the founder of a new training institute . When the election campaign billboards went up in January, he proudly wrote the title "Ph.D." alongside his name, with a "Prof." that he boasts was given to him by King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. That may be so, but at the same time neither of 'Etuate's professed academic titles is recognised by Tonga's Ministry of Education.

But what does 'Etuate Lavulavu hope to achieve with a second term in the House, if he can win back his seat on March 17?

'‘Etuate said that during his first term in parliament, 2002-04, the House passed 56 motions, including a number of Private Member'’s Bills that he presented. He said that his motions addressed social needs, and proposed moves to boost the development of tourism, agriculture, and fisheries.

One of the Private Member's Bills that was presented by 'Etuate, which caused an up-roar in the House, was for newspapers to get permissions before printing the names and photographs of private citizens.

'Etuate believes that it is important for him to serve a second term in the House, so that he can push for the implementation of his motions and bills. "“If they will be implemented, Tonga will be fine," he said.

'‘Etuate agreed that there is a need for political changes but he supports the dialogue approach. He said that the other alternative, "is to take up arms and to fight government", but he does not favour that.

Despite'Etuate's support for a dialogue approach to bring about political change, he confessed that actually he did not think it will work, and therefore no political change will take place.

Odd man in

'‘Etuate Lavulavu has been an odd ball among the nine People's Representatives in the House. At one time when all the PRs walked out of the House, on the next day '‘Etuate returned while the others were still out. On a couple of occasions in the House he has threatened to drop People's Representative ...‘Akilisi Pohiva to the floor, and in one instance he was very lucky not to have gone down himself.

Last year 'Etuate was apprehended by the FBI in the United States while trying to board a flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. '‘Etuate was enroute to a Commonwealth Parliamentary meeting in Bangladesh. He never made it to the meeting and his arrest opened up an old fraud case against him for an alleged falsifying of immigration papers for Tongans to become American Citizens. He was charged with 11 felonies but convicted on only two counts of illegal use of a birth certificate in the State of Utah District Court, USA, where State prosecutors said they allowed .'Etuate Lavulavu to plead guilty to the two class B misdemeanor counts. Apparently the state did not want to spend any more money to find witnesses and evidence, and in the end '‘Etuate only had to pay costs.

The local newspaper reported that questions remain about the fate of the 60 or 70 Tongans who obtained US citizenship under false circumstances as part of a forgery scheme involving 'Etuate and his convicted brother Samuel, and a US State employee.

School

'Etuate has spent much of his energies in recent years on establishing a new school in Nuku'alofa called the 'Unuaki '‘o Tonga Institute and seeking government subsidies for it.

Then following the closure of the House last November 'Etuate elevated his academic status to become a self-professed PhD and a professor.

'Etuate said that the Professorship was awarded to him by HM the King on December 9, following the first graduation ceremony of his newly founded '‘Unuaki '‘o Tonga Institute - less than a year old. The King is the patron of the 'Unuaki '‘o Tonga Institute.

And as for the PhD, 'Etuate said he started working on it in 2000 at the University of Phoenix. He then resumed working on it, doing correspondence studies with the University of Eden Vale, UK, in 2002 until it was completed in 2004. 'Etuate said he did not attend the graduation ceremony but the university posted him his PhD on "Educational Leadership".

The interesting thing about 'Etuate's Professorship and his PhD is that they are not recognised by Tonga's Ministry of Education. The Director of Education said that the Ministry does not recognise '‘Etuate'’s professorship because they do not know on what academic background and from what institution the professorship was awarded.

The supervisor of election, Pita Vuki, said he had no legal responsibility to verify that the academic qualifications of candidates are genuine.