The long awaited report of a Parliamentary Select Committee on how the Nuku'alofa Development Corporation NDC administered and spent the TOP$118 million loan from China for the reconstruction of Nuku'alofa, is still being prepared, according to Dr Sitiveni Halapua, a member of the Select Committee.
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Results for Parliament
Friday 2 March 2012
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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Thursday 9 February 2012
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
As members of Tonga's Parliament try to navigate their way through political reform with their newly inherited political control, they have found themselves struggling with the fact that the auditor general is under the jurisdiction of the Speaker and the Parliament itself. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.
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Tuesday 7 February 2012
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's parliament has agreed today for a nine-members select committee to preside over a Motion to dismiss the auditor general for misconduct, after four and a half days deliberation in an emergency session. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.
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Monday 6 February 2012
1 comment
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Three days after a motion to dismiss the auditor general was tabled into the Tongan Parliament by the Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano and the Minister of Finance, Hon. Sunia Fili, the House still could not figure out how to deal with the motion. From January 31 to February 2 the House appeared to have made one step forward to make a decision, and then two steps backward to where it ended up. From the House, by Pesi Fonua
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Monday 6 February 2012
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's parliament met yesterday, January 31, to pass a decision on a Motion for a Resolution to dismiss the auditor general, Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa, for bad behavior, but the special session ran into some problems. The motion will effectively put the auditor general on trial by parliament - and complicated by the fact that the House is the judge, the prosecutor and also the plaintiff. From the House by Pesi Fonua.
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Saturday 21 January 2012
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Lord Tu'ivakano (58) is Tonga's new Prime Minister Designate, after winning over 50% of a secret ballot in a Special Meeting of the Legislature to Elect a Prime Minister this morning.
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Monday 16 January 2012
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Tonga Lesgislative Assembly plans to open its 2012 session in February, on a date to be set.
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Friday 13 January 2012
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An arrest warrant for Lord Lasike, the Speaker of the Tonga Legislative Assembly, has not been actioned, while it is understood that he remains in the United States.
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Monday 9 January 2012
1 comment
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A move by the Tongan parliament to reduce penalties for possession of firearms offences has been stopped by Tonga's king who has withheld his Royal Assent to an amendment.
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Tuesday 27 December 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's Speaker Lord Lasike "should resign," the Prime Minister Lord Tu'ivakano, said on Friday, after a second arrest warrant was issued for Lasike's breach of bail.
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Wednesday 21 December 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The emergency meeting of the Tongan Parliament yesterday, December 20, two months after parliament was closed on October 20, and only five days before Christmas, has to be one of the strangest things that Tonga's new government and parliament has done since it came into power in January. One member called it "a witch-hunt". From the House. By Pesi Fonua Premium Content
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Tuesday 29 November 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A mentally disturbed patient, suffering from schizophrenia, was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 23 years in prison by Justice Robert Shuster at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court on 24 November.
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Monday 24 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
There was speculation and suspicion in the House that there was a hidden agenda behind the last minute rush by the Minister of Justice, Hon. Clive Edwards for a Bill to Amend the Supreme Court Act to be passed before the House closed on 20 October. From the House, by Pesi Fonua. Premium Content.
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Sunday 23 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Some simple arithmetic tells us that the House has met for only 164 hours this year - that's only 41 sittings - before they softly closed on Thursday October 21, before all their work was done. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.
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Tuesday 18 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
It's now official that Members of Parliament may receive generouly funded trips for medical treatment overseas in addition to their full salaries and allowances. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.
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Friday 14 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
In a year that has seen a dramatic increase in armed robberies in Tonga, parliament voted to massively reduce the penalties for the illegal possession of firearms - slashing the maximum penalty from $5,000 to only $1,000 and from five years imprisonment to only one year.
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Thursday 13 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A parliamentary tour report presented by 'Akilisi Pohiva to the House was thrown out on October 5 after a majority concluded that the report was irrelevant, unreliable and not clearly representing the views of his constituency, Tongatapu 1. The decision was unprecedented in the history of parliamentary tours. The member's response to the criticisms was that the report was written by a woman who accompanied him. From the House By Pesi Fonua. Premium Content.
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Wednesday 12 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
By the end of this week the Cabinet should make a definite decision on whether parliament should close on October 20 before it reopens again in February, or just take a long break to February before closing, the Minister of Justice, Hon Clive Edwards told the Tongan parliament on Monday, 10 October.
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Tuesday 4 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's Legislative Assembly resumed sitting today, October 4, after an adjournment that allowed members of parliament to attend a three-day Pacific Ombudsman meeting in Vava'u last week.
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Tuesday 4 October 2011
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Although Tonga's Legislative Assembly discussed and criticized the practice of campaigning by members during their annual parliamentary tour to their constituencies, which is paid for by the House, no action was taken to curb the practice. Some PRs went out to hear what their constituencies needed, but one PR said he had a different approach and he went out to tell constituents what the government and house needed. The House ended up arguing about the burning of Nuku'alofa before abruptly changing the subject. From the House, by Pesi Fonua.
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