Political party for kingdom

POLITICS - Tonga

By Martin Tiffany

TONGA’S pro-democracy movement have made their most assertive step so far against the country’s noble-dominated government they have launched the kingdom’s first political party. The Tonga Democratic Party is expected to become reality in a few weeks with an official launching.

What the pro-democracy campaigners hope for is the party to find seriousness in their fight to change the monarch-led government system.

MP Viliami Fukofuka, a leading pro democracy campaigner and one of the party’s founders, believes the party’s time has come as has time for democratic change in the island kingdom. At last year’s general election, pro-democracy campaigners grabbed six of the nine “people’s representative” seats.

An election in Tonga happens every three years. This means the people choose the nine people’s representatives and nine nobles to parliament. The other 12 members of parliament are cabinet ministers appointed for life by the country’s near-absolute monarch, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV.

What this really means is the people’s representatives are chosen by 95 per cent of the population (around 94,000) while nobles elect, among themselves, their nine representatives from 33 noble titles.

The new party expects to finalise their

constitution soon. The push towards full

democracy began in Tonga on Novem

ber 24-27 when the pro-democracy movement formed in August that year held a public pro-democracy confer ence. It’s aim was to show the Tongan public what real democracy was and why power should be taken away from the

king.

The battle between the pro democracy people and the nobles has not been easy. It was also been hindered by the fact that many commoners see them as revolutionary. The noble MPs have the pro-democracy movement at every opportunity and cost them especially MP ‘Akilisi’ Pohiva a packet in liable costs.

Pohiva, one of the main men behind the pro-democracy force, has not been totally happy with the forming of the political party before constitutional change, but has agreed to be part of the party.

The pro-democracy movement has proved it has staying power, much to the annoyance of the nobles, and will not go away. Their latest move could prove a turning point in the history of Tonga. □

Pohiva: pro-democracy force