When I lived in Tonga nearly 50 years ago, parliament comprised 7 nobles representing 33 nobles, 7 elected commoners representing about 25-30,000 adults, and a Cabinet of 8 which including the Prime Minister, appointed by the much loved Queen Salote.
I doubt many people were concerned about this inequality. Nuku'alofa was barely urban. There was little industry or commerce. Most people were subsistence or semi-subsistence farmers. Few Tongans had been educated overseas and overseas communities were small. There was a weekly Heron flight to Fiji but most overseas travel was by the Tofua or Hifofua that took five days to get to New Zealand. There was a weekly foolscap-size government broadsheet but no newspapers and one government-owned radio station.
In the intervening years the world and Tonga changed dramatically, and pressure to adapt to these changes mounted from local and overseas Tongan communities. In 2006 what started as a peaceful protest by democracy supporters turned into a riot that left much of downtown Nuku'alofa burning. Change could not be forever delayed.
Two years ago legislation approved by Queen Salote's' grandson, George Tupou V, resulted in the November election being held under new rules. The king would relinquish most of his powers to an elected prime minister.
Parliament would comprise 9 nobles representing 54 nobles, and 17 MPs presenting about 70,000 adult commoners, the PM would be elected by Parliament and Cabinet by the PM. Some 42,000 people registered to vote, only an estimated 60% of those eligible.
The commoner seats were contested by the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI) led by veteran pro-democracy leader Akilisi Pohiva, and a swarm of independents. There were 147 candidates for the 17 seats, an average of 8.6 making most results indeterminate. The result was that in only two seats was a candidate elected with 50 or more percent of those voting. More typically the successful candidate won less than 30% of the votes.
The DPFI won 9 of the 10 seats on Tongatapu, one in Ha'apai and another in the Niuas (that later defected) leaving the DPFI with 11 of the 26 seats in Parliament. Independents held the other 6 commoner seats, and the nobles the 9 they were entitled to. When parliament met to decide the PM, all the Independents voted with the nobles, and a noble, Lord Tu'ivakanoa, became PM . Pohiva thought that on the basis the seats won by the DPFI they were entitled to at least 6 cabinet positions. Tu'ivakanoa offered them two.
There is an obvious moral to this story. Tonga has taken a small step forward towards a more representative parliament but effective power and authority continues to reside in the same hands. None of the Pacific states, or Australia or New Zealand, has ever commented on the old or new electoral system, or on the outcome of the November elections. There have been no bans or threats of sanctions; no suspensions from the Commonwealth or PI Forum; no withholding of aid from the EU and traditional donors, and absolutely no negative media publicity.
The BBC called it Tonga's "first popularly-elected parliament" even though one-third of the seats were reserved for chiefs and the popularly elected majority party has been denied effective participation in government. Appearance not substance is what counts. Overseas armchair democrats and politicians can be content. There has been an "election" — and little substantial change.
12 comments:
I do not know what the idea behind this article is with the sarcastic last line - maybe the author is getting addled in the brain. Democratic elections have been held, and the people have made their choices. The fact that the independent candidates decided to side with the nobles is neither here nor there. The important thing for Tonga is that the people wanted some changes in how they were ruled, they were given an opportunity to do so and they have done so! Congratulations Tonga!
Good on you Croz for highlighting these glaring contradictions. I hope this blog is widely read and discussed including (at least informally) by foreign affairs officials in Wellington and Canberra. Best wishes for 2011.
@ Anonymous ... I really would prefer you to use a pseudonym and not use personal insults to argue your case. I can see where you are coming from and up to a point your position is arguable. You, however, have completely missed where I was coming from. This short article was less about Tonga than about the contrast between Australian and New Zealand positions on Tonga compared with Fiji, and their failure to distinguish between appearance and substance. From the Tongan perspective, it seems likely Akuila and the DPFI would agree that I have a point.
A great piece, Croz, and yet more evidence that the youthful naivete so prevalent in the island media is no substitute for the age and experience of an old hand like you. When you've been in these parts for nearly half a century, you're fully entitled to express whatever opinion you like, however much it offends the critics. Anyone who remembers the Tofua and the Matua, let alone sailed on them, or negotiated the raised centre aisle of a Fiji Airways De Havilland Heron deserves to be heard with respect. A recent editorial by Fred Wesley in the Fiji Times reminded me of how little collective memory is brought to bear on current events. In a piece on someone who'd managed to reach the ripe old age on 101, Wesley wrote in apparent awe that there were still people in Fiji who could remember the assassination of John F, Kennedy, the British colonial era and Fiji's independence. I've yet to reach three score years and can remember all three! You go back a lot longer and have accumulated much more knowledge. As the old saying goes, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. But in the case of Fiji, it's the appalling general ignorance of the past that produces the same mistakes again and again. You've now got to be 23 years old to have even been born at the time of Rabuka's 1987 coup. And you've got to be 40 to have been born at independence. is it any wonder that these events are now regarded as ancient history and irrelevant to peoples' lives? Yet the same racial, political and social pressures remain largely unresolved and blight what could and should have been the brightest of futures. With the Fiji media, it's a case of the blind leading the blind. You, on the other hand, are able to shine a torch on history and relate it to the present. May your battery continue to hold out for many years to help light the path ahead. Happy New Year!
given the usual jibes about how recently people vist Fiji for them to get a real insight into the REAL situation exactly when was Croz's most recent vist for his to have a clear understanding of the facts on the ground??? I would be keen to hear. As that is the basis for many criticisms of bloggers on the REAL situation in Fiji.
Sara'ssista, your suggestion that Croz Walsh doesn't know what he's talking about in relation to "the REAL situation in Fiji" is patently ridiculous. He was there a few months ago and produced a number of in- depth accounts of what he found, along with a series of interviews with top level officials like Parmesh Chand. It's also clear to even the most casual reader that Croz gets a lot of his information from people who have impeccable connections themselves. Now, whether you like what he finds and the conclusions he reaches is neither here nor there for the rest of us. As opposed to the chronically selective and inadequate reporting by much of the local media, Croz's site is by far the most reliable, informative and reputable source of information on what is happening in Fiji on a daily basis. Time and again, the likes of Coup 4.5 have shown that they can't be trusted to tell the truth. That, my dear, is the REAL situation whether you like it or not. Qori.
@sara'ssista..
Dear me, you are so obviously not here and up-to-date that you should be reminded that it is required of serious comment that to be valid and of interest it should be current, well-informed and, preferably, based on first-hand information. Otherwise, it is purely 'Hot Air'!
You might be surprised at Croz's ability 'to get about'. But that is another matter.
@Qori. perhaps you need to read what I said again, or not I couldn't care less. I was asking why, given his consistent jibes to others who haven't visited and sourced the REAL situation from regime mouthpieces in Fiji, he has the gall to comment on Tonga when he appears to have been last there over fifty years agao and speaks , he feels with some authority on the current distinction in treatment by aus and nz compared to fiji.
@ Qori..'As opposed to the chronically selective and inadequate reporting by much of the local media', this is after years of PER under this regime, exactly what apart from 'dog bites girl' and Ministry of misInformation edicts is anyone allowed to publish, don't treat us like fools and dare blame the media.
@ Saras'sista ... Perish the thought that I make "consistent jibes" about overseas armchair experts on Fiji. Of course it helps to be on the spot but there are other ways to obtain information. There must be because otherwise almost all the anti-Bainimarama crowd would be disqualified authomatically — and not just because of what they write.
And what led you to assume I was last in Tonga 50 years ago? There was nothing in the article to suggest this. For the record, on Tonga, I was deeply involved in happenings in the 1960s (I taught or know many current political figures) and visited periodically until I retired. I keep in touch though reading, lifelong friends and through people I know. Besides, whether or not I know anything about Tonga other than what I published is beside the point. I was commenting on NZ's very different policy on Tonga compared with Fiji. Note also that while 'Eakalafi Moala commented negatively on NZ media reports, he did not correct me on anything I had written.
Saras'sista, for the record, when were you last in Fiji?
@ Croz
'Ssista When were you last in Fiji?
One supposes that in common with many others, this person visits Fiji nightly ...dreaming? Because that is the 'reality' that is presented. There is nothing wrong about this but it is, of course, completely subjective and admits of no alternative reality. Which is a pity.
For the record, i was in Fiji for about a month, three and half weeks ago. I am still not able to write letters to the editor that are critical of government policy thanks to the national emergency PER, or seeking investigations into military corruption, i am still not allowed to hold a meeting without authorisation, i still have to accept a military authority that has no place in civil society and my family still has no rights of appeal the constituionalality of government decision and it will be years if allowed, that we will get an election and even then maybe i will not be allowed to vote for whatever candidate i wish. it appears the regime will select a candidate for me. m Oh but book for the school kids won't have the VAT just yet. So it all balances out doens't it. Anf BTW Croz i doubt anyone will correct this either as there is a disctinct mailaise and mabilivalence as indicated in the few numbers of peeople bothering to comment thease days. The regime will take this as tacit acceptance of their reform agenda, that would be delusional and naive to think that. And exactly where do countries not hold differnent countries to different standards . Fiji is no longer a frindly nation to Aus and NZ and we manage the relationahip not unlike China , also not a friendly nation, but we manage it according to the prevailing attitutes and bsuiness needs at the time and out of necessity, and in fiji's case due to tourists voisiting from Aus and NZ. This again is entirely consistent and like this regime, we change our minds and tactics without caring or consulting you.
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