Interim Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva has refuted claims that he wanted to take away people’s land and the royal powers.
Pohiva told his supporters on Tuesday night he would have made himself Minister for Defence and Minister for Land in the last election if he wanted to carry out those changes.
He was rebutting claims by his political opponents that he had a secret agenda to take away people’s rights to their land and give it to the nobles.
Kaniva News reports it was unable to publish anything on his speech immediately because of Tonga’s electoral law which prohibited the publication of any material that could promote a candidate within 24 hours of Thursday’s elections.
Pohiva said he struggled in 2014 to choose a Minister for the Ministry of Land and His Majesty’s Arm Forces.
Pōhiva, who was re-elected to Parliament in Thursday’s snap election, said he lay down at home at night and “thought deeply” about the problem.
He said he knew how “very fragile” the future of land and the defence services seemed to some people’s minds, especially the nobility and the royals while he, a man who had called for significant changes to the status quo in the past 30 years, was leading the country.
He finally made up his mind to appoint Lord Ma’afu from the nobility to the posts.
He thought the noble’s appointment could show the nation his ambition to bring about reforms that could bring more stability to Tonga.
He said politicians who campaigned against him during the snap election misled the people by telling them he was trying to unnecessary remove the king’s power.
“That was not right,” Pōhiva said.
Protect His Majesty
Pōhiva, whose critics accused him of wanting to become king, said he understood the way he wanted to protect the king put him and his government in a delicate situation.
The Prime Minister was referring to submissions from Cabinet to amend the constitution, including a proposal to reinstate the former Privy Council structure in which the king met with cabinet ministers in Privy Council.
The move was described by the then Minister of Justice Vuna Fā’otusia as an attempt to make sure the king was directly informed first hand about government matters by the Ministers because they were the ones who did government’s administration works.
Fā’otusia said the current structure was not secure because the Privy Council was filled with people who were not elected by the people and were not accountable to the public.
Pōhiva said they explained that amending the law would benefit the king and the people, but unfortunately his critics had twisted and demonised their intentions.
Dirty Politics
He described it as “dirty politics” and thanked his followers for helping defeat his rivals in the three decades he got involved in Tongan politics.
Tuesday night’s meeting was repeatedly interrupted by applause and yells of support from the audience.
Pōhiva and his Democratic Party won 14 parliamentary seats which enabled them to form the next government without needing the help of the nobility or the independents.
It is understood Pōhiva and his cabinet were due to meet yesterday, although the line-up of the cabinet has not been announced yet.