From the House, by Pesi Fonua.

NOVEMBER 2010 has been set by the Tongan government as the date for an election of Tonga's new parliament, the Deputy Prime Minister Dr Viliami Tangi told the Tongan Parliament on Monday, September 14.

Dr Viliami Tangi was trying to impress the House with the government's commitment for the election of a new parliament under a new system of government to take place next year, despite the fact that the House has not agreed on the two fundamental issues that would make it possible for the Election to take place next year, the composition of the new parliament and a new electoral system.

Dr Viliami Tangi however believe that there was a Way Forward for the House to take, and that was for the House to amend Clause 77 of the constitution to enable the Prime Minister to issue a writ for the election to be held in November instead of its normal time, earlier in the year, between February and May.

The Deputy Prime Minister was in a high spirit when he tried to impress the members of the privilege they have as the leaders of the country to plan a future government for Tonga.

Fast tracking the process to what will happen after the November election next year, Dr Tangi said that two weeks after the November 2010 election, the House will meet and elect a Prime Minister, then the Prime Minister appoints his ministers and form a government.

"That government then, as they normally do at that time of the year get to work on the national budget.

"Speaker, when you think about that, we all feel emotional about it. It will be a new era for our small country, for us to elect nobles' and people's representatives, and then for them to chose the leaders of our country," he said.

Amend Constitution

Dr Tangi stressed the government's commitment for the reform, and his conviction that it can be achieved if the members of the House would work together instead of waiting for the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission to present its draft final report in November, they should move ahead an amend Clause 77 of the constitution, to enable the Prime Minister to set a date for the 2010 parliamentary election.

He further stressed the government's commitment and how it has secured the financial backing of its friends to hold the election for a new composition of parliament for Tonga in November next year.

Fragmented

But back to the drawing board and the reality of what was going on in the House, the members were not united in their views and have not been able to agree on the composition of the house and a new electoral system.

The proposed compositions that have been floating around were 17 People Representatives PRs, 9 Nobles' Representatives NRs, 4 to be appointed by the king; and 21 PRs, 9 NRs, and 17 PRs, 9 NRs.

With regards to a new Electoral System, the government has introduced a Single Seat Constituency Electoral System, but most of the PRs favoured the current Block Voting Electoral System.

The Vava'u No. 1 People's Representative, 'Etuate Lavulavu, told the House that he would not stand for election next year. He predicted that unless the House agreed on a credible electoral system Tonga will be having a new Prime Minister every six months, and the king will be wondering what is going on when they will repeatedly turning up for the appointment of a new Prime Minister. He said that to select a Prime Minister from a House that is made up of individual members, with their own political belief, will be a nightmare and "Fiji will be nifi, but Tonga will be nafa." (Fiji and Tonga will be singing the same song but Fiji sings the solo and Tonga the bass.)

He also expressed his disappointment that because the House could not agree on the structure of a new system of government for Tonga they were then revert to waiting for the Commission to come up with their recommendation of a system of government for Tonga. He said that the Commission was not mandated to make such a recommendation.

The Speaker Noble Tu'ilakepa said that the House should take note of the member's prediction, because 'Akilisi Pohiva made a similar prediction and it came true with the 16/11 riot. He said that they (the Nobles) opposed the proposed reform at the beginning, but once the king agreed, then they gave it their full support.

Sunia Fili said he would not make any comment on the two issues that the House was still discussing, the composition of the new parliament and a new Electoral system. He would reserve his comments to November, when the House will debate on the Draft Final Report of the Commission.

Teisina Fuko, the president of the People's Democratic Party PDP said that his party will be competing for each of the proposed 17 People's Representatives seats. A Manifesto of the PDP is currently being drafted.

'Akilisi Pohiva proposed for the number of PRs for the new parliament to be 17, nine from Tongatapu, three each from Vava'u and Ha'apai and one each from the Niuas and 'Eua. With regards to the Electoral System he said that they should remain with the current electoral system. He suggested to government that they should agree to disagree over the Electoral System issue.

The government has set the deadline for the reforming of the Tongan parliament to before the end of 2010, but if the House would not agree on the composition of the new parliament and an electoral system, then there will be no election.

On Tuesday, September 15, after the House spent most of the day debating over the same issues that they have been battling with the day before, the Deputy Prime Minister reminded the House that it would not be prudent to expect the Commission to provide a solution to their problems, and that government "would not wait for the Commission."

Dr Viliami Tangi however was optimistic that the House was slowly moving toward a consensus. He suggested for members to think hard and pray hard and he was sure that one morning they would wake up and a solution will come to mind.