Editor,

IT is patently clear from the Government's public response to The Royal Commission Report on the Ashika Inquiry that the Cabinet of Sevele has not been idle but tirelessly searching for a refutation, not been incompetent and mindless but self-servingly shrewd and craftily scheming, and not been unconcerned for the Kingdom but would be un-hesitant, for self-serving end, to sellout Tonga.

The Royal Commission Report has made it very clear that there is endemic dysfunction in the current government administration of Prime Minister Sevele. This has led to systemic failure at all levels from the operational through to the executive level. There is now a rising international opprobrium created by the solid finding of the Commission that the tragedy was easily preventable and the deaths were completely senseless and that it was scandalous that such a maritime disaster could ever have been allowed to occur.

What are in fact of gravest concern are the character and dynamics of the current administration's operating consciousness and leadership mentality as repeatedly revealed in the past and now re-manifested with magnified power by the manner in which it continues to deny any responsibility for failure (i.e., gross errors of commission and gross errors of omission). It's response to The Royal Commission Report on the Ashika Inquiry, while eloquently structured and worded is, guileful, severely contaminated with special pleading and false cause fallacious reasoning, and bears hallmarks of being filtered through mental dishonesty. In the said public response, what the government advocated ("all the recommendations of the report should be addressed") is either effectively outside the purview of its power to reject; or is amenable for post-hoc manipulations - i.e., is amenable for subsequent use of the moral hazard weaponry.

On the other hand, what the government's response has denounced ("extreme provocation by the Commission in permitting . . . politically motivated irrelevancies in its proceedings") does vividly testify to Sevele government's deep-seated disposition of denouncing any process - truth-searching process - that generates outcomes that were different from ones implied by their self-serving paradigm. It smacks on sheer commonsense for instance, that such paradigm declares political imperatives as irrelevant to the vital affairs of society and the manner by which Tongans are regulated and are allowed to live out their lives. Moreover, how shameful it is that the Sevele government chooses to self-righteously brag about (their supposedly) being cooperative and transparent with the Commission's investigation; when it was crystal clear from the process that it was the combined effect of the legal force and the executive cum professional grilling power of the Commission that compelled the Sevele government to be supportive and transparent.
Undoubtedly, the current administration's deeply self-serving operating consciousness and leadership mentality, as coward expression of it's steadfastly clinging to self preservation, has, indeed and very sadly, impugned seriously the character of His Majesty. Within hours of the Ashika Commission Report being presented to His Majesty, Government chose to hide behind the facade of what they refer to as 'process' which includes Privy Council deliberating on the Ashika Report. However, surely His Majesty must be allowed to deliberate with a Privy Council that is free of prejudice and fallacious predisposition. Yet how can His Majesty receive impartial advice when the Cabinet is implicated of both directly and indirectly causing the tragedy?

Moreover, in light of the evidence presented by the report, the Sevele Cabinet must resist the self-absorbed compulsion for self preservation and relieve the nation of the perception that His Majesty is complicit in any way with Cabinet, trying to abrogate their responsibility in the Ashika tragedy. Indeed, if restoration of the full dignity of the Monarchy - and perhaps adding to it in passing, swift healing to this nation - are a goal truly valued by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, then only by a joint act on their part to voluntarily resign from their respective portfolios immediately would prove their faithfulness to such goal.

What is not offered voluntarily will inevitably be sought through due process of the law (civil and criminal responsibility) or that of the legislative assembly (impeachment) or an exercise of royal prerogative.

This Government continues to shock the sensibilities of the nation and although the end is imminent, members of the Cabinet continue to cling shamelessly to their portfolios even when the nation has clearly lost confidence in them.

The people of Tonga must be aware that the Ashika tragedy is not the only problem in the immediate horizon for the Sevele Government. There is also an elevated financial crisis looming coupled with an economy in unprecedentedly rapid decline. The deep government budgetary squeeze that has greatly restricted the 2010-11 budget, and thus has handicapped the life lines to economically productive and socially essential sectors is only a minute pimple in the long and deeply depressed face of the Tongan economy which has resulted from cumulatively built consequences of an incompetently driven fiscal machinery.

The most recent public declaration of the Minister of Finance of the Sevele government reads: "Despite Tonga's weak fiscal position the government remains committed to implementing its economic, public sector, and political reform programs. These reforms will lay the foundation for a sustainable fiscal position for the new government to build on in order to drive the economy successfully going forward." In empirical and logical terms, this declaration is down right rubbish in policy value, nonsensical for projecting Tonga decision states, intellectually dishonest, and insulting even to the mentality of a novice in Public Finance Economics. Such a virtuous macroeconomic goal can never be reached by a survival mentality-based fiscal policy proclamation. Indeed, very surely, given the performance of the Prime Minister Sevele and his Cabinet over their three years in office it would be totally unrealistic to anticipate that that which is handing-over to the incoming democratically elected government would be a functional administration with "foundation for sustainable fiscal position".
The government and the economy look certain to sink to the bottom of the ocean just as the Ashika did. And as with the Ashika, it may never be recovered unless a sea change at the Cabinet level is brought about immediately.

Yours Sincerely

Concerned Citizens - Dr Saia Kami, Dr Lopini Havea, Dr Lia Maka, Mr Maletino Hola, Mr Kulu 'Anisi Bloomfield, Mr Tonga Finau, Mr Siaosi Sovaleni, Mr Edwin Liava'a, Mr. Soane Lolesio, Rev 'Ikani Taliai Tolu, Mr Piveni Piukala, Mr Siaosi O Vailahi Pohiva.

spohiva [at] hotmail [dot] com ( spohiva [at] hotmail [dot] com)