parliament

Bainimarama, who was the opposition leader, made the announcement via a five-minute video on Facebook on Wednesday.

He said his suspension on February 17 was "unwarranted and most certainly unjustified".

"I did not swear nor did I make any racist or divisive comments," he said.

It comes after the former prime minister said the President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere had failed to protect the Constitution and the rule of law in his opening statement for the 2023 parliamentary session on Monday.

The FijiFirst leader will be out of Parliament until 17 February 2026, after a midnight vote as both sides of the House clashed over Bainimarama's suspension.

Leader of government business Lynda Tabuya said Bainimarama's words "denigrated" the Head of State when he uttered "seditious words".

The Lord suggests that the use of cryptocurrency would benefit Tonga by significantly reducing the costs associated with transferring remittance payments.

According to Lord Fusitu'a up to 30 percent of remittances are lost to transfer and currency exchange fees charged by intermediaries. This amounts to over US$70 million.

Flames were seen billowing from the building's roof on Monday, as firefighters tried to douse the blaze.

The fire first broke out on Sunday and completely destroyed the National Assembly, or lower chamber.

Police have arrested a suspect who will appear in court on Tuesday on charges of arson, housebreaking and theft.

According to the Interim Speaker of Parliament Lord Tangi, one nomination was received and submitted to his office.

Nominations close at 4.30pm today.

In the meeting tomorrow morning Lord Tangi will open and read out the nomination(s) for Prime Minister.

“The nominations of candidates from the Nobles representatives for the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be made verbally by the elected representatives from the floor at the same meeting after the result of the Prime Minister’s election is declared,” he said.

The King pointed out that in this election year, Tonga faced many challenges, including illicit drugs, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

King Tupou VI made the comments in his address to close the 2021 session of Parliament on Thursday.

His speech was read by Lord Ve'ehala, accompanied by the Nobles Fohe and Niukapu.

Prime on the list of challenges is the impact of illegal drugs, which the King stated had “caused frustration and anger among our youth, on whom we rely on to develop the country”.

Its intention is to merge all government tertiary institutions in Tongatapu into one national entity known as the Tonga National University.

If the Act comes into force, six government owned tertiary institutions will merge into one entity known as the Tonga National University.

The institutions currently exist as the Tonga Institute of Higher Education (TIOE), Tonga Institute for Higher Education (TIHE), Tonga Institute of Science and Technology (TIST), Tonga Maritime Polytechnic Institute (TMPI), Queen Salote School of Nursing an Allied Health and Tonga Police College.

The duration of absence is now three consecutive calendar months compared to the previous requirement of 12 consecutive calendar months.

The Legislative Assembly (Amendment) Bill 2021 was introduced by Lord Fakafanua, Noble’s Representative no.2 for Ha’apai.

The amendment to the Legislative Assembly Act was recently passed in Parliament to encourage the obligatory attendance of MPs during the House sitting to fulfill their Constitutional and legislative mandated roles.

Anthony Seuseu, Digicel Tonga CEO, said, “We are proud to partner with Take The Lead and to support the success of She Leads Fale Alea ‘O Tonga 2021 to enable participants to become strong, confident and successful female leaders in their communities.”

She Leads Fale Alea ‘O Tonga (SLF) is Take The Leads annual female youth-led program in partnership with Tonga’s Parliament (Fale Alea 'O Tonga) and UNFPA, with the mission to end the low representation of women in Tongan politics. Take The Lead is a youth body that promotes youth-led initiatives in Tonga.

After welcoming and acknowledging the Speaker of the House, Lord Fakafanua, the Prime Minister Dr Rev Pohiva Tuionetoa and the Members of Parliament, His Majesty slammed the government and the House's "usual" practise of responding to His address without doing anything about it.

"It is unsatisfactory how this House does not make an effort after the promises and responses to Parliament’s Opening Ceremony each year," His Majesty said.