The political activist Lopeti Senituli, has left his job as Director of the Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement after disagreements, and on March 1 became the new Director of the Tonga Community Development Trust.

While the move enables Lopeti the satisfaction of working closely with the community in development, but on the other hand his new job comes with a restriction that he can not make public comments on political issues. And that will be difficult for the outspoken Lopeti who has been a political activist in the South Pacific region for many years.

Lopeti said that his parting from the THRDM, "was not a very friendly affair, I could say that I was effectively kicked out of the job." He said there were differences in perspectives and in visions for the movement between himself and some members of the executive board of the THRDM. "My vision is that we have to work with all sectors of the Tongan society, most importantly we must work with the nobles, we must work with the churches, town officers , even with the heads of government departments. We cannot achieve any political change through confrontation all the time."

The executive board of the THRDM, is made up of chairman, Rev, Simote Vea, assistant chairman, Professor Futa Helu, secretary, 'Akilisi Pohiva, and assistant Secretary, Finau Tutone.

The tie between Lopeti and the THRDM came undone three months after the completion of his three year working contract on 30 June 2003. Lopeti said that prior to June 30 the board requested for his contract to be extended for another three months while it reviewed his work. "The executive board then asked me to take a pay cut of about 50 per cent, that is if I wanted to renew my contract. If I had done something wrong or if the auditor said that some money was missing, then I was willing to take a pay cut., but I don't see any reason why I should take a pay cut. They never came back and so I handed in my resignation."

Lopeti said that he started with THRDM on July 2000 with a salary of $15,000 pa'anga per annum, "and according to our three-year working contract that by the end of my term, my salary should have been close to $19,000, and if my contract was renewed I should be at the $19,000 level....…So really if they proposed a pay cut of 10 per cent that would have been reasonable but to ask me to take a pay cut of 50 per cent was very unreasonable. I think it is a polite way of them saying go home and grow manioke."