Results for Lord Fakafanua

The issues of displacement and forced migration, as impacts of climate change, are real concerns for vulnerable developing countries, including Tonga and small Pacific islands, Tonga’s Speaker of Parliament Lord Fakafanua, told a High Level Segment for Speakers, on 6 December, on the side of the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai, UAE.

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga, Lord Fakafanua is attending the 52nd Presiding Officers and Clerks Conference in Honiara this week, focused on “building strong and resilient parliaments”.

Parliamentary representatives from Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu and Niue gathered in Nuku'alofa this morning for the opening of a three days seminar to examine the core elements of democratic governance, understand their roles and to build their capacity as parliamentarians.

The time for critical action on Climate Change is now, Tonga's Speaker Lord Fakafanua said during an Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Egypt, during the 27th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 27).

Lord Fakanua, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga is attending the 51st Presiding Officers and Clerks Conference in Melbourne, from July 4-8, where he will present a speech on 'Parliament’s engagement with the community in Tonga'. The annual conference has not been held since 2019, due to the COVID pandemic.

Tonga has many urgent needs and three major concerns for our new Prime Minister Designate, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni, are health, illegal drugs and school dropouts. “There's a lot [of concerns] and that is why it's important to have a good team to work with,” he said following his election today. By Pesi Fonua.

Tonga has a new handbook to guide parliamentary reporters. The 88 pages bilingual Tongan/English, “Tonga Parliamentary Reporters’ Handbook” was launched by the Speaker Lord Fakafanua, at Parliament House, Nuku'alofa, this morning, 4 March 2021. But significantly, the new handbook makes no mention of the role of political parties in Tonga’s parliament.

A decision by the Tongan Parliament to hold a secretive session to debate their response to the speech to the nation by HM King Tupou VI on the opening of parliament, is a historical first and a disappointing show for the first sitting of the House of the new government, under the new prime minister. When parliament hides their pondering over the approval of a simple thank you note, then the public cannot hope to see participatory parliament in the future. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.

The new Tongan government will stretch out its closure of parliament up to eight months. At the request of the Prime Minister, the sitting of the Legislative Assembly has been adjourned to May, Parliament's Office said in a statement today.