The motion for a Vote of No Confidence in the Prime Minister that was scheduled to be debated in the House tomorrow, June 27, will now be deferred to Thursday, June 28, the Chief Clerk of the House, Sione Tekieki confirmed this afternoon.

Yesterday, June 25, after the Tongan parliament passed the 2012-13 National Budget, the Speaker, Lord Lasike told Parliament that the motion for a Vote of No Confidence in the Prime Minister that was presented to him last Monday, June 18 had been distributed to members. He said they should start their deliberation on the motion tomorrow, June 27.

But yesterday was an eventful day in the House which had passed the 2012-13 National Budget in a record time of only one week, considering the importance of the new financial year's budget to Tonga's economic recovery. Some ministerial Votes, such as that for the Ministry of Police, Prisons and Fire services, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education were passed without even one question asked.

The day ended with the resignation of three Cabinet Ministers from Lord Tu'ivakano's cabinet, and the distribution of the motion for a Vote of No Confidence in the Prime Minister.

The Speaker announced that the House would close for two weeks allowing members to go on their annual national tours, starting on Monday, July 2, and this time each of the People's Representatives will have more than $100,000 pa'anga in their pockets from the House, to hand out to their electorates.

The deferring of the debate on the Motion of No Confidence means that Parliament will have to deal with this political conflict in only one day, before members go on tour.

If the House cannot resolve the issue this week, then Tonga will be left without a stable government for more than two weeks.