Commoner MPs Call For PM, Cabinet Resignations

Seven of Tonga's nine elected 'commoner' MPs have demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Prince 'Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, one of the monarch's sons, and his cabinet over the debacle that caused the April collapse of the insolvent government-owned Royal Tongan Airlines, of which he was chairman.

There was no response from the prince, although he resigned as the airline's chairman after it fell apart at a cost of a huge chunk of the country's annual budget of around US$50 million.

'Ulukalala has claimed Royal Tongan collapsed because commoner MPs urged Tongans to boycott it.

Islands Business was told by a civil aviation industry source that the government was given informal friendly advice before the jet service began that it didn't have a hope of success.

The airline's failure left Tonga without its own international or domestic air services and again dependent on foreign airlines accused by the government of exploiting the country's limited air access to its tourist and export markets.

Commoner MPs reacted with scepticism to remarks made by King Taufa'ahau Tupou, who in opening a session of parliament in May, said that a foreign investor would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the country.

Tongans are accustomed to hearing the king announcing big foreign investment schemes that don't happen.

The commoners, relegated constitutionally to be a near powerless minority by being outnumbered two to one by cabinet ministers appointed by the monarch and noble MPs, said they didn't understand what the king meant. They refused to support a formal letter of thanks sent by parliament to King Taufa'ahau Tupou.

Pro-democracy leader 'Akilisi Pohiva complained that the letter was just a meaningless servile repeat of a polite letter sent every year, according to Matangi Tonga, the country's only locally-published independent news magazine.

A Ministry of Finance document warned that the cost of the failed airline would worsen the government's weak financial position and inflate a projected 2003/04 deficit.

Tonga's active Human Rights and Democracy Movement has meanwhile launched an eight-year 'advocacy and awareness' programme intended to culminate with the reform of the Tongan constitution by 2012 to give the country a fully elected democratic parliament and government while retaining the monarchy.

This will apparently supersede a civil obedience campaign intended to embarrass the monarchist government into eventually accepting political reforms to a 19th century constitution which enshrines power in the hands of the octogenarian king and the country's traditional nobility. However, some commoner MPs proceeded with a boycott of the opening of parliament in May that had been intended to launch the non-violent disobedience strategy.

The first 'consultation activity' under the eight-year strategy is set for July.

The movement and international critics, including aid donors, continue to condemn new laws enacted in 2003 to enable the government to muzzle critical sections of the local and foreign media. However, the government has granted publishing licences, including one for a highly critical political pamphlet, Kele'a, it said had acquired publishers who met official criteria for fair and accurate reporting.

The government displays no sign of shifting from its stance of ignoring the democracy movement. It has adopted a policy of promptly issuing press statements in which it denounces what it regards as being unfair and inaccurate criticism of its media control and other controversial policies and positions.

Clive Edwards, the controversial police minister, has warned that New Zealand's parliamentary mission which wants to investigate the political situation in Tonga will not be officially welcomed since its presence in the country would be interference in Tonga's internal affairs.

The democracy movement's acting chairman, Reverend Simote Vaea, told Islands Business that some government officials and nobles had told it informally that they were prepared to participate in the July consultation on political reforms for Tonga.

Tonga's weak economy was hurt seriously when in April the government-owned Royal Tongan shut down its international flights with a leased Boeing 757 after the aircraft was seized by the owner, Royal Brunei Airlines.

All domestic flights ended due to lack of funds for spare parts for two local service aircraft. Two new small airlines, one owned by former airline employees, appeared in June to restore local flights.

The airline's collapse has bad implications for the government's frail budget resources.

The airline went into liquidation with admitted losses of 20 million pa'anga (US$10 million) and millions more in government guaranteed liabilities.

Internal inter-island transport, including movement of tourists, was left dependent on shipping.

In a half yearly 2003-04 budget review covering the six months to December 31, 2003, the finance ministry warned that losses by the airline and other badly performing government enterprises would add to the forecast 6 million pa'anga (US$3 million) deficit and increase pressure on the fiscal balance.

The review reported worsening inflation and poor performance by agriculture and fisheries, with only results for tourism up to expectation.

It forecasted some improvements for the economy during January-June 2004, with continuing growth for tourism, high level of remittances from overseas Tongans, and signs of recovery for tuna fishing. Fishing and squash exports however, have been hit hard by external factors. Loan guarantees, particularly for the airline, have put significant pressure on the government's cash position.

The value of the pa'anga continues to fall against the Australian and New Zealand dollars causing inevitable additions to the cost of food and other imports drawn mainly from Australian and New Zealand sources.

Opposition critics said 'Ulukalala seriously compromised himself as chairman of both the airline and the government-owned Tonga Telecom Commission (TCC) by securing TCC funds to finance the airline.

The seven pro-democracy MPs in an angry response to Edwards said it was reprehensible of him to claim that the airline's failure had nothing to do with the government, since the government appointed all Royal Tongan's directors with the prime minister as chairman of the board and was the prime mover in pouring funds into the airline. The Privy Council had approved the Boeing 757 lease.

They said the entire cabinet should pay for shaming Tonga internationally by collectively resigning.

Yet another embarrassment for the government is the reported collapse of a land deal between it and the Bishop Estate, Hawaii's largest landowner.

The estate, claiming that rent was overdue, repossessed 1000 acres of land in Oahu leased by the government in 1992 for a cash crop farming work scheme for Tongan residents of Hawaii.

Rent, wages and other costs such as trips by government officials to inspect the scheme's progress has reportedly cost 3 million pa'anga (about US$1.5 million). Pohiva said he understood other debts incurred by the project exceeded US$300,000.