Time to watch
pp. 14-15 · Read in the full issue
the manioke grow
HRH Prince Fatafehi Tu’ipei ehake, Prime Minister of Tonga for over 25 years , re tired on August 21 due to Hi health. Pesi Fonua spoke to the Prince on the first day of his retirement.
IT must have been a very difficult decision for you to make, to step down as Prime Minister and go into retirement.
It was not difficult, I made the decision when I finally realised that I was getting very weak physically.
What are some of the major devel opments which have taken place in the region and in Tonga while you were Prime Minister?
I think some of the major develop ments have been our becoming indepen dent from Britain, and the increasing amount of aid we are receiving from foreign countries. And more recently is the marked increase of the Japanese aid to Tonga, in the building of primary
schools, the Nuku’alofa foreshore, and the roads, and there is still more to come.
I am not claiming responsibility for all these because it was already set in motion by Tupou IV when he was Prime Minister. When we were no longer under the umbrella of the British government, it became known by the world that we are independent, and we are responsible for whatever we are doing. I think those
were very important developments.
With regard to the South Pacific Forum, it was started by Tamasese, Albert Henry and myself. We started it here in the first meeting of the Forum at the Dateline Hotel. We were the foun dation members.
Has the Forum changed its course?
The reason why we established the Forum was because we knew that once countries in the region become indepen dent they would have to move out from the South Pacific Commission (SPC) and therefore there was a need to form another group for the independent countries of the region. In the SPC the power was still vested with the colonial powers, but in the Forum we were independent to discuss and to criticise issues which are of importance to us and the region. One new change that has been made by the Forum was the formation of the Forum Fisheries Agency. It was realised that there is a
need for a body to represent the whole region.
What is your view on the theory that we will have a stronger Cabinet if Cabinet members are representa tives elected by the people?
I am against that theory, and I may be against the wishes of some people, but I would like to point out that this is probably the best system for Tonga.
There are not many of us who have a clear understanding of what is going on beyond Tonga. Our local politicians are only good enough within Tonga, when we move out to the international arena I think this is the best approach for government to call in only our capable people. We realise that most of our people have left for overseas. There may be somebody who is very very clever but he does not want to come back.
What is Tonga’s economic position?
We are in a very stable position ...
Before we used to say that if we had a lot of foreign reserve then our economy was sound, but now we have discovered that even if our foreign reserve is high we still need to get out and build the country.
The choice is whether to have the chicken or the egg first. Also the Treasury must file a monthly report on the state of our economy to the Privy Council, and that will enable govern ment to keep a close watch.
What do you think is the best system for us to adopt?
One thing that we should always remember is that no-one else knows what is best for us other than ourselves. We all talk about democracy but we do not know what it looks like. It has a different shape and a different colour for different countries ... Here it is different, people are just going about in their daily lives, and when the breadfruit is in season they are very happy. I do not know what would you call that, carefree or what, but you can’t talk to people like that about democracy.
On the land issue, there was a Royal Land Commission. Has there been any definite move to change our present land tenure?
I think the important thing that has happened while I was the Minister of Land, is that the whole country was divided up into plots and distributed to the people, and you probably know just as well as I do, that there is still a lot of uncultivated land around the place. In Tongatapu alone there are about 10,000 registered tax allotments.
About two or three years ago when we were trying to revive the banana indus try, there were less than 2000 growers who were interested. What is happening to the rest? So it is difficult for us to say that landlessness is causing the poverty of the people. The same question can be applied to the squash growers. There are only about 1000 squash growers, but what happened to the rest?
It appears that we do not really know which direction we are going do we want to embrace modernisation or not?
Do we want to get into tourism or not?
Because Tongans do not like serving other people, and it seems they do not want anybody pressuring them to do anything. Looking at it in general, I think Tonga is one place where the average citizen has a reasonable stan dard of living . . . the Tongans who know how to make use of their freedom and independence are better off.
I think we are only just beginning to see the results of our education system.
Education has been compulsory in Tonga for over 100 years ... In pro portion to our population we have more university graduates than any other country in the South Pacific.
What are your retirement plans?
I will be very happy to be in the plantation and watch the manioke grow ing (laughs). I would much prefer to do that than to be in town. I think I have spent too many years in an office. □ The King has appointed his cousin, Baron Vaea, as Prime Minister. Baron Vaea has been an aide-de-camp for Queen Salote Tupou 111, a former Governor of Ha’apai, the first Tongan High Commission to the UK, Minister of Labour Commerce and Industries, Minister of Tourism, and presently is first chairman of the board of the National Reserve Bank of Tonga.