House silent on Constitutional Monarchy forever [1]
Sunday, October 25, 2009 - 11:12. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
By Pesi Fonua
THE Tongan Prime Minister, Dr Feleti Sevele, in a special speech to the Tongan parliament on October 8 gave a brief outline of a new way of government under a Constituency Electoral System that the Tongan government, the Cabinet and Privy Council, want to have in place before the new elections on November 2010.
He told the House that a major political reform that is anticipated to take place in November 2010, would not change the foundation of Tonga's Constitutional Monarchy system of government as it was written into the constitution in 1875.
"King George, his heirs, and successors should reign as sovereign of a Constitutional Monarchy forever, as Head of State, Tu'i Kanokupolu, and traditional leader," the Prime Minister said, quoting a clause of the Constitution.
He said that the political reform that was initiated by the late King Tupou IV in 2005 and further accelerated by HM King George Tupou V in 2006, enabled Tongans to get more involved in the running of government.
In 2005, Tupou IV appointed ministers from elected members of the House, and in 2006, for the first time in Tonga's history, the king appointed a commoner as a Prime Minister, and that was himself, Dr Sevele. When HM King George Tupou V ascended to the Tongan throne in 2006 he gave the Prime Minister a new authority to nominate and to propose the dismissal of Cabinet Ministers, a task that was previously reserved only for the King in Privy Council. The appointment and the dismissal of a Cabinet Minister had always been the prerogative of the King in Privy Council.
Relinquish some power
When the king open parliament earlier this year, he announced that with a fully elected parliament at the end of 2010, he would relinquish some of his power in Privy Council to the House.
Dr Sevele said that the king would no longer appoint the Speaker of the House and the House would be given the right to select a Speaker from one of the elected members.
The Privy Council will no longer make Ordinances when the House is not in session and that will be another task for the House.
The Prime Minister said that the new Privy Council will consist of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, and the Minister of Lands. The other members of the Privy Council will be appointed by the king, depending on the issue being discussed by the Privy Council.
He said the government wanted some authority to remain with the king including the authority to dissolve parliament in situations where they can't agree on who should be Prime Minister; or where Parliament acts unconstitutionally and it has an impact on the right of the people; or where
there may be a vote of no confidence that the House has no confidence in the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
The government wants the king to remain as the Commander-in-Chief of the Tonga Defence Service.
The government also wants the king to hold veto power over legislation that is passed by the House.
Dr Sevele said that government believes that a new system of government will be introduced before the parliamentary election of November 2010, under a new Electoral System, a Constituency Electoral Voting system.
Constituents
To implement a Constituency Electoral Voting System the country has to be divided into constituents, a task that will be carried out by a Boundaries Commission. Each constituent will have about 3,100 voters with the minimum age of 21. Candidates for the election must be a resident of the constituent, and voters will have only one vote.
The Prime Minister said that a fully elected house, would consist of the nine Noble's Representatives who will elect their representatives under the current electoral system, and the 17 People's Representatives who will be elected under the new Constituency Electoral System, and the four non elected members to be appointed by the Prime Minister if they will be needed. A 26 to 30 members parliament will then elect a Prime Minister who will be officially appointed by the king, who will have the authority to run the country under the law and the Constitution of Tonga.
Dr Sevele tsaid the political reform program had actually began in 1875 with the proclamation of the Tongan constitution, and political changes had taken place during the past 134 years.
Mixed reaction
There was a mixed reaction from the House to the Prime Minister's speech.
PR Sunia Fili, thanked the Prime Minister for a very good speech, before he changed the subject by asking if there was an official report on the disaster at Niuatoputapu.
PR 'Akilisi Pohiva, believed that there should be a referendum on the new system of government.
Tsunami watch
The debate was interrupted at this point when the House was alerted to a tsunami watch. Noble Nuku, the Minister responsible for disaster alertness warned the House that an 8.3 earthquake had struck Vanuatu and a Tsunami Watch had been issued for Tonga. He said they should vacate the House and look for higher ground.
Silence?
As it turned out there was no tsunami following the closure of the House on October 8 and the House reconvened on October 12. Since Minute No. 32 of October 8, the House has published five minutes, the latest was No. 37 of October 19, but there has been no comment recorded in the House for or against the speech of the Prime Minister.
Does the silence indicate a silent approval of the proposals?
Composition
With regards to the composition of a new parliament, Dr Sevele said that government supported the proposed number of 26 to 30 members of parliament, which will be made up of 17 People's Representatives, nine Noble's Representatives, and for the Prime Minister to appoint four from outside if necessary. Under the Constituency system, the elected members and appointed members will elect a Prime Minister who will be then officially appointed by the king. The PM would then go ahead and choose his ministers from the members of the House.
The Prime Minister reminded members of the wisdom of King George Tupou I when he decided on the composition of the House, that Cabinet Members will never hold a majority against the total number of Nobles' Representatives and People's Representatives in the House. He also reminded members of the respect and good working relation between the members of the three tables in the House. The Tongan Parliament is made up of Three Tables, the table of the Cabinet Ministers and the two governors, the tables of the Nobles' Representatives and the table of the People's representatives.
One month
It is about a month before the final report of the Constitutional and Electoral Commission will be presented to the House.
The Prime Minister also reminded Members that the first two chapters of the Interim Report of the Reform Commission was requested by qovernment to be deferred to be debated on later. The first chapter is The Monarchy and the second chapter related to the king relinquishing his power in Privy Council to the new fully elected parliament.