NUKU'ALOFA: Tongan voters know very little about the structure of the new government that Tonga will introduce following the November 25 election, according to some candidates who have attended village meetings in their constituencies.
Talking to the Media Council Inc. weekly program, "Candidates meeting the Press" five candidates discussed the theme 'Separation of Powers' under the new structure of the new government. The media programme on Wednesday, November 17 was the tenth and final in a series of pre-election meetings with candidates.
Participating were:
'Alisi Taumoepeau - Tongatapu No. 2; Sione Fonua - Tongatapu No. 2; Clive Edwards - Tongatapu No. 3; Carl Taufaeteau - Tongatapu No. 3; and Posesi Bloomfield - Tongatapu No. 6.
All the candidates said that they had discovered that voters know very little about the structure of the new government.
'Alisi Taumoepeau, a former Minister of Justice, said that the structure of government had not changed, it was still a three tiered structure: the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. She said that what will change is that the king and the Privy Council would no longer be a part of the Executive. "The executive power of His Majesty in Council will be transferred to the Cabinet."
'Alisi said that at the final session of the Privy Council on Friday, November 19, the king would give his consent to three pieces of legislation: an amendment to the Constitution, and an amendment to the Government and the Electoral Acts to officiate this change.
'Alisi also emphasised that even though the King would no longer be involved in the drafting of Laws, but he would still hold the veto power to reject legislation that had been passed by Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly. She said that people in her constituency had asked if it was possible for one person, the King, to reject a law that had been passed by elected members of the people, "and the answer is a Yes, that is what will happen."
'Alisi said that Tonga still had a three tiers structure of government, but the authority of the king had been elevated to another level.
Concerned
However, 'Alisi was concerned that during the process of a political reform, which was the wishes of the people, the Judiciary was also reformed. It was unfortunate, she said, "because during the process of a political reform it is absolutely essential for the Judiciary to remain firm and independent." She was concerned over the dismantling of the Judicial Services Commission, which was established while she was the Minister of Justice, and which had now been replaced with a 14-15th century British title of Lord Chancellor, who would recommend to the King who should be appointed as the Chief Justice and the judges of the Supreme Court, which she said made her feel very "uncomfortable."
Clive Edwards, an incumbent People's Representative to the Tongan Parliament said that the structure of the new system of government for Tonga was quite an achievement, because under the current system, the king controlled the whole system: the king appointed the Cabinet Ministers, and therefore controlled the Executive; and the Executive controlled parliament, and he also controlled the Judiciary, because he appointed the judges.
Clive said that a fully elected parliament would elect the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, "a Cabinet that will be accountable to the people and not to the king."
Lord Chancellor
Clive, however, expressed his grave concern over the termination of the Judicial Services Commission to be replaced with a Lord Chancellor. He said he was not in the House when the Bill to terminate the Judiciary Services Commission was introduced.
He said that the Lord Chancellor would not only recommend the appointment of judges but he would also be responsible for the Tonga Defence Services in place of the Minister of Defence.
He said that it should be the first task of a new government to terminate the Lord Chancellor post and return the Judicial Services Commission.
In response to a question, who recommended the appointment of the new Chief Justice since there was no Judicial Services Commission and a Lord Chancellor has not been appointed, Clive's response was "Nothing . . ."
Posesi Bloomfield expressed his concern that after meeting in villages throughout his constituency, he discovered that very few of his electorates know anything about the structure of the new government.
He stressed the importance for Tonga to have a three tiered system of government, which he likened to a table with three legs, with a separation of power and a working privilege to check on each other
Little public participation
Regarding the shift in the process of appointing judges from a Judicial Services Commission to a Lord Chancellor who will be appointed by the King, Posesi still believed that the intention was to maintain the independence of the judiciary but to be in line with the Tongan process of making laws, which is from the top down with very little public participation.
He proposed that to revive the Judicial Services Commission the public should be consulted, because it may be that they thought it would remain more independent if it was recommended by a Lord Chancellor, appointed by the King, rather than recommended by a commission with members who were politically motivated.
With regards to the current situation that a Lord Chancellor had not yet been appointed, following the termination of the Judicial Services Commission, he was concerned that there was no one to complain to on issues relating to the judiciary. He gave an example of the case of Lord Dalgety, and there were issues that he, being a lawyer, wanted to raise with the Lord Chancellor, issues of great importance to the country, but there is no Lord Chancellor to talk to.
In response to a suggestion for a four tiered system of government for Tonga he reminded the Media of the accepted belief in the West that the "Press is the Fourth Estate."
Disagreed
Sione Fonua disagreed with Clive that the King under the current system of government controlled the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. He pointed out that there are nine People's Representatives and nine Nobles' Representatives, making 18 elected members of parliament, comparing with only 15 Cabinet Ministers, "so the elected members should be able to reject any legislation presented by the Executives."
With regards to the reform in the judiciary, he said that the question is: "Was there a need to reform the judiciary?"
His answer was that during the past months there were a number of resignations from the judiciary, firstly was John Cauchi, the Attorney General, followed by Chief Justice Anthony Ford, then by Justice Warwick Andrew. Sione believed that these were indicators of a problem in the judiciary.
He said the appointment of the Lord Chancellor without any involvement of the politically motivated Executive sounded good and looked good but, but he questioned: "will it work?"
King's power
Carl Taufaeteau was concerned that the Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly might become too powerful without any other institution to check on them, except the public in the next election.
In conclusion, candidates were concerned over what appeared to be the loss of the independence of the judiciary and agreed that the power of the king remained but he would no longer be involved in the drafting of laws. The king would still have the veto power over the affairs of the country.
With regards to reform in the Judiciary, only 'Alisi and Clive were clear that they would like the new government to terminate the post of a Lord Chancellor and for the Judicial Services Commission to be reinstated with a role of recommending judges to be officially appointed by the King. - Matangi Tonga/Pacific Media Watch
Article: Voters do not understand new structure of government
Pacific Media Watch
