Tonga's PDP hopes for big membership [1]
Friday, May 20, 2005 - 19:00. Updated on Friday, May 9, 2014 - 11:44.
Extracts from an interview of Teisina Fuko, the President of the newly formed People's Democratic Party, by Katalina Tohi and Pesi Fonua on the weekly television program of the Media Council Inc. of Tonga, which was shown on Television Tonga on Saturday evening, May 14:
Katalina - How is the new Political Party, and what is the plan for the future?
Teisina - A draft copy of our constitution and rules were distributed this evening, and I think we should pass the constitution by the end of the week. Possibly early next week we will lodge our application to register the party with government.
Katalina - What is the relationship between the Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement (THRDM) and the new People's Democratic Party (PDP), some are saying that in the future the THRDM and PDP will merge and form only one party?
Teisina - We are sincerely trying to merge the two, because realistically we are an offspring of the Movement but we want to move forward, which we did by forming the PDP, so we should merge and move forward together. There is an urgent need for an alternative authority to run the country.
Katalina - the understanding by a great majority of the people that we adopting a Political Party system of government and therefore are expecting one or two parties. If you are going to merge then you are going against the people's concept of a political party system?
Teisina - We are an offspring of the Democratic Movement and we are going to be registered and become a legal entity, so our intention is that should merge and be called a democratic party. I have no doubt that government, the nobles, and the royal household will establish their own party.
When we formed the People's Party in 1994, the Prime Minister's Office invited people, including church leaders to establish the Christian Party. My hope is that we have only one or two big parties, so that if people want to adopt the party system they can chose between two strong parties to run the country.
Pesi - After talking about a political party system of government, and then the first two parties that have been formed suddenly merge and become one, don't you think you are confusing people with what you are trying to do?
Teisina - I am talking about merging because there are basic similarities in the principal belief of THRDM and the PDP, and we are an offspring of the Movement, and that we should merge and form only one democratic party. I have no doubt that the Royal Family, the Nobles and those who are against democracy will form another party.
Pesi - With regard to the need for a political reform, do you think the establishing of political party is essentially the first thing that should be done, other than a reform within government itself?
Teisina - I have been involved in politics during the past 20 years, I first entered the House in 1984, 'Akilisi came in in 1987, and since then we have been pushing for change. And there have been a number of proposals, including for the people to elect all the 30 members of parliament and for the King to appoint his ministers from them.
The only reaction from government was the appointed of four ministers from the elected people's and noble's representatives, but even that is not working, because in the case of Feleti Sevele and Peauafi Haukinima they had to resign as people's representatives, and they are properly entrenched with government. I am sure if they stand for election again they will not be re-elected.
Pesi - You decided to form a political party. Don't you think it would have been proper to amend the Constitution first?
Teisina - we have been trying to do that during the past 20 years. This time we decided to take this approach, a constitution has been drafted and it will be passed soon, next we will apply for the party to be registered, if our application is rejected we will take government to court and we are certain we will win. We will then push for membership, from Tongans overseas and here. This is something that has never been done by the movement. If we have a membership of say 30,000, we will then try for example to get our members to take all the people representatives seats in the next election, get our members to become town and district officers, and get ourselves into a position when we can negotiate with government, because we have the backing of a majority of the people.
We also would like to hold a referendum next year, and I also think we can get some funding and people from overseas to come and supervise the referendum.
Katalina - With regards to your claim that Clive Edwards was a candidate of the People's Democratic Party to the recent by-election. In the last Media Council TV program, Clive denied that he was a candidate of the PDP?
Teisina - Clive is a lawyer and officially he was not a candidate of the Party because the party has not been registered, but it was a gentleman's agreement because we all involved in the setting up of this party.
Pesi - In your draft constitution I notice that top on the list of objectives of the party is to affirm your unwavering loyalty to the King and the country. What you have just explained about what the PDP is setting out to do will go against your objective, can you please explain that a little bit?
Teisina - We want to let government know that we want to negotiate, and we have nothing to hide and that is our position, and that we respect tradition and the Tongan culture and the monarchy.