Editor's Comment.

By Pesi Fonua

'PUBLIC Participation' is a principle that the Tonga government appears to be striving to effect as we are trying to implement our economic and political reform programs.

The Ministry of Police are going out nationwide on a public consultation exercise to find out how the public want their Police force to be structured and managed.

The Constitutional and Electoral Commission, following their first meeting on January 5, have called for public submissions, to recommend specific changes in the Constitution and in the Electoral Act.

Government also embarked on an "out-sourcing exercise", recently calling on members of the public who might be interested in a partnership to finance and manage the operation of the government newspaper, the Tonga Chronicle and to operate the Tonga National Centre.

Democratic pillar

'Public Participation' is one of the principal pillars of a democratic system of government, and when practical submissions, ideas and suggestions are presented, they are then analysed, debated and dissected, and the best are absorbed into the process of change.

The setback with Tonga's attempt to introduce the principle of public participation at this stage is that there is an apparent reluctance by the Tongan people to participate in consultations in a meaningful and constructive way.

The glaring reasons for a lack of public participation include the fact the most people don't understand the issues; combined with an old Tongan complacency to let government make the decisions (and that the public will protest later); and a widespread conviction that there is no point in members of the public participating because government has, in most cases, already decided on what should be done and who will do it.

To clear the air and allow public participation to take root and grow and to become part of our political system, we have to allow transparency into the process.

The public must have confidence that government hasn't already made its decision; that there is no prior done deal; and that the call for public participation was not simply a convenience so that politicians, who may be later accused of cronyism, can say that there was a call for public participation.

It may be a tiresome task to try and explain complex issues to a slumbering public, but surely government has an obligation to awaken public interest in the issues and the difficult decisions that loom ahead, before they call for public participation.