House argues over rejection of Vote of No Confidence [1]
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - 10:12. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
From the House by Pesi Fonua
After the Tongan Parliament rejected a motion for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and his Cabinet on Monday, the House opened yesterday, bubbling with emotions high and low, as members could not wait to let their feelings be heard.
After getting a few housekeeping items out of the way, a few questions were asked, such as when such a piece of road was going to be fixed, and when would government improve the shipping service to the remote islands of Niuafo'ou and Niuatoputapu.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Samiu Vaipulu said that work was in progress, but he reminded members that the completion of the works depended on when funds were available from the World Bank or aid donors.
China invitation
Next on the agenda was the invitation from China for seven "democratic members" of the Tongan parliament to visit China. With a rationale that all members of the Tongan parliament were majority elected, the House proposed to send nine people, including the Speaker Lord Fakafanua and the Clerk of the House.
But the Speaker told the House that China did not want to change their invitation, and the figure remained at seven.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Chinese Foreign Affairs wanted to upgrade the visit to an official visit, meaning that they would be officially welcomed and looked after while they were in China.
Despite the upgrade, People's Representative Dr Sitiveni Halapua told the House that he had a received a message requesting his CV, and unfortunately he would not be able to go on the trip.
With all those housekeeping matters out of the way, the floor was opened.
Guidance
The Minister of Health, Lord Tu'i'afitu that the outcome of their vote, was god's will, because people had been praying for god's guidance to be with members of parliament when they voted on the motion, and he praised the House for their success in reaching a respectable final decision on the motion for a vote of no confidence, calling it a historical decision.
'Akilisi Pohiva, however, did not think it was god's will. He pointed out that the sinking of the MV Ashika ferry was not god's will. He stressed that there were a lot of injustices in the country and that "if there is no justice, there is no peace."
He expressed his surprise that government did not respond to his accusation of their wrong doings during his final speech before they voted on the motion for a vote of no confidence the previous day.
Man-made disasters
Lord Tu'ilakepa reminded 'Akilisi that the sinking of the Ashika was just the same as the burning of the Nuku'alofa CBD to the ground, it was man-made.
The Prime Minister reminded the Speaker that they had already voted on the motion, and that they could not go back to it. He told 'Akilisi that they did not correct his comments because it would have unnecessarily prolonged the debate on the motion. They would respond but they should move on to the other items in the agenda.
The Speaker told the Prime Minister that 'Akilisi had requested time to make a speech, and that he had only six minutes left. He called for the House to close for lunch.
Committees
After lunch the Speaker selected members from the House's Standing Committees on Finance and Law to form a Select Committee, chaired by 'Aisake Eke, to further scrutinize the NDC report of another parliamentary select committee.
'Akilisi took the floor to finish his speech, by further emphasizing that "we" (meaning the members of parliament) had done too many wrong deeds, and they could not go on turning a blind eyes on their wrong doings, while allowing people with lesser offences to be punished heavily. He said that justice goes together with peace.
Blunt
The Minister of Finance, Hon. Lisiate 'Akolo said he was very thankful for the outcome of their vote of no confidence, and he sincerely believed it was god's will in response to the many prayers that Tongans had made during the past weeks.
In response to claim by 'Akilisi that the People Representatives who voted with the nobles did not honour their commitment to the interests of the people, Lisiate, on the behalf of the three Vava'u People Representatives, told the House that following the parliamentary election in 2010, the thought of affiliating themselves with Party of the Tongatapu People's Representatives, did not appeal to them. They did not like their leadership style and, in fact, they did not know who was their leader. They did not want to associate with the party, their manner and the way they do things.
Sitiveni Halapua queried, why the member was so angry and was telling them off.
Lisiate, pointed out that the member and 'Akilisi had been stressing the importance for members to be blunt with their speeches in the House, and that he had decided to be very blunt with them.
He said that 'Akilisi was talking about justice, but justice according to 'Akilisi's own interpretation, and that is why they could not work with him under the government of National Unity that he had been talking about.
"When you formed your so-called party, you erected a fence and separated yourselves from the rest of us," he said.
After that the Speaker called for the clerk to read a number of petitions that had been tabled with the House.