Political Reviews • Polynesia 187 Margaret Mutu Tonga
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political reviews • polynesia 187 tion of crops is also an issue, with Zealand First party is led by a Mäori, Mäori largely opposed to it. The the charismatic Winston Peters, and apparent lack of performance of despite a general impression that he is many Mäori members of parliament Mäori bashing, 6 of his 13 members was another issue. One commentator are Mäori. act has 1 Mäori member, noted that of the sixteen Mäori mem- while United Futures has none. The bers in the last parliament, fewer than left-leaning Green Party gained only six could be relied on to advocate for 8 seats, 1 of which went to a Mäori. Mäori and only one, Tariana Turia, The Progressive Coalition has 2 mem- was prepared to fight publicly in sup- bers, neither of whom are Mäori. port of Mäori issues. The poor perfor- At the time of writing, Labour had mance was not unexpected, given the entered negotiations with both the severe attacks from both the media Greens and United Future about the and conservative opposition parties composition of the next government. on any outspoken Mäori members margaret mutu and the fact that party loyalties have effectively prevented their acting as a single bloc. Tonga Yet the July 2002 elections saw a record number of 20 Mäori members The triennial general election was held in a parliament of 120, with 11 repre- again in March 2002. Democracy senting their own electorates and the supporters claimed that their win of rest as list members for their parties. seven of the nine People’s Represen- But none of these were independents. tatives’ seats was a conclusive victory All 7 Mäori electorate seats remained for the movement throughout the with Labour, with the Labour Mäori kingdom. Other observers did not caucus at a record 10 members within find the outcome so clear-cut. the full Labour caucus of 52. Yet The Tonga Human Rights and despite the strong Mäori numbers, Democracy Movement (thrdm), shortly after the elections the Mäori which was formed in 1998 to replace caucus indicated that it was requesting the Pro-Democracy Movement, did just three ministerial appointments not formally field candidates for the inside cabinet and three outside cabi- election because, as it claims to be net in what it appears will be a merely a mass movement that seeks Labour-led minority government. political change, the conditions under Of the remaining parties, the tradi- which it receives funding from various tional mainstream conservative party, overseas agencies prevent it from National, returned only 27 members, doing so (MT, May 2002, 12–16). with their vote dissipated among After the outcome, however, the move- right-wing minor parties. Only 2 of ment was quick to claim a win. The their members are Mäori. Of the other most vocal of its representatives— three right-wing parties represented in ‘Akilisi Pohiva, Dr Feleti Sevele, and the house, New Zealand First gained ‘Isileli Pulu, who became the Tonga- 13 seats, while act and United tapu No 1, No 2, and No 3 People’s Futures each gained 9. The New Representatives respectively—claimed 188 the contemporary pacific • spring 2003 that the result represented a mandate smaller islands had higher turnouts: from the people to institute the gov- Ha‘apai and Vava‘u each had 53 per- ernment restructure that had formed cent, and the Niuas and ‘Eua had 69 the basis of their campaign. This idea, percent and 56 percent respectively. namely, that all thirty members of the While it is always more difficult to say Legislative Assembly (from which the why people did not vote rather than monarch would still appoint his cabi- why they did, the Tongatapu reaction net ministers) be elected by common suggests that either a high proportion roll, has been previously aired, dis- of registered voters were overseas, or cussed, and defeated in parliament they preferred not to vote because of in 1992. Although the idea appeared disenchantment with the candidates better understood by the electorate or perhaps the whole idea of politics. than previously, especially in Tonga- It should be noted also that the tapu, there is little evidence that the lead-up to the elections was marked idea was the primary factor that by several disconcerting events. One swayed the voters there or in the of the most unprecedented was New other island groups. Indeed, pro- Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs government supporters (notably the Phil Goff ’s attacks on the Tongan minister for police, the Honourable government’s credibility. He suggested Clive Edwards, and Tuisoso, the edi- in a series of remarks that the level of tor of the government owned and corruption and the failure to uphold controlled newspaper, Kalonikali the constitutional rights of its citizens, [The Tonga Chronicle]) disagreed, along with the fact that no major and argued that the results merely political change was in the offing, reflected the usual contest for votes might affect the future level of New between individuals to see who Zealand aid. The Tongan government would enter parliament. They further regarded this interference in its inter- asserted that it was conducted in the nal affairs as an impingement on the older-style fashion of personalized nation’s sovereignty and an attempt to politics, rather than as an ideological bias the outcome of the forthcoming battle over ideas that remain poorly election. There was also some sugges- understood by the mass of people. tion in the local press that Goff ’s However, these arguments prove remarks were prompted by Pohiva’s rather equivocal, as in several cases ongoing efforts to engage the sympa- the personalized issues tended to thies and actions of larger neighbor- coincide with principles. ing Pacific Rim countries for his polit- Three commoners’ seats are allo- ical ends (TC, 9 March 2002, 1). cated for Tongatapu, two for each of Another matter that arose was the the Ha‘apai and Vava‘u groups, and amount and source of the king’s pri- one each for the Niuas and ‘Eua. If vate funds. The issue came closely on the result was a nationwide mandate the heels of the Tonga Trust debacle, for change, however, it is noteworthy in which us$20 million appeared to that the voter turnout was the lowest have gone missing as a result of a (44.3 percent) in Tongatapu and only series of dubious investment maneu- 49 percent in the country overall. The vers (or a long-term scam) on the part political reviews • polynesia 189 of the fund’s advisor, J D Bognadoff. in Hawai‘i in which he invests the Bognadoff is a US citizen who first proceeds from his vanilla production claimed the king’s attention in the but that the amount is not near the role of court jester. The trust’s lack of one quoted. The letter involved an proper administration by the two cab- allegedly forged signature, however, inet ministers placed in charge of it— and the week before the election, the Honourable K T Fakafanua (the police raided Pohiva’s home and the former minister of finance) and the thrdm office and confiscated a hard Honourable T Tupou (the former disk on which a copy of the letter was deputy prime minister, attorney gen- allegedly found. Some people felt that eral, and minister of justice)—resulted this find might promote a conserva- in their resignations from office in tive vote, but in the event, the harsh September 2001. The loss of the treatment meted out to Pohiva, his money invested with a US-based son and daughter, and ‘Isisleli Pulu, a company, Millennium Assets Manage- thrdm office-bearer, appears to have ment, was confirmed in a report to swung voters toward the movement. the Tongan government on 7 June In another landmark development 2002, following ten months of specu- following the election, Pohiva and his lation about its fate. After investiga- son were charged with sedition, fraud, tions in the United States by Auditor and defamation, and Pulu with fraud. General Pohiva Tu‘i‘ionetoa, the If these two members of parliament trustees have instructed a team of San are convicted of criminal charges later Francisco lawyers to commence legal this year, they stand to lose their seats. proceedings against Bognadoff and In the Tongatapu elections, 14,734 two others. The trust has claims people actually voted from a roll of against six companies alleged to have 33,232 people registered. Of these, been involved in the transference of Pohiva romped home with 9,437 the money, some of which relate to votes, scoring electoral victories at all failure to pay or default on payment polling stations, to return as the Ton- of a promissory note, fraud, conspir- gatapu No 1 People’s Representative acy, aiding and abetting fraud, negli- as he has for the last twelve of the gent misrepresentation, material fifteen years since he was first elected misrepresentation, and fraudulent to parliament in 1987. Dr Fred Sevele conversion (TC, 13 June 2002, 17). was returned for a second term as the It now remains to be seen who, if Tongatapu No 2 People’s Representa- anyone, laughs over the loss to the tive with 8,498 votes, and newcomer kingdom of t$50 million. Pulu came into the No 3 place with While this was going on, Ko e 5,500 votes. In Ha‘apai, a democracy Kelea, the radical newssheet now supporter, Teisina Fuko, was ousted, edited by Pohiva’s son, published a and newcomer Fineasi Funaki became letter allegedly written by a former the No 1 People’s Representative. The palace secretary stating that the king longtime thrdm parliamentarian, had a personal fortune of us$350 ‘Uliti Uata, came back in the No 2 million.