Tonga’s Friendly Island Democratic Party led by Akilisi Pohiva has sent a clear message to the Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakano saying they will formally approach King Tupou VI under the constitution clauses 38 and 72(2) if he will not act now to bring his deputy, Hon Samiu Vaipulu to justice.
The two clauses that the party referred to allow the king to dissolve the Legislative Assembly and command to hold an election of new representatives of the nobles and the people.
A letter signed by members of the party on March 6 addressed to the Prime Minister mentioned previous corruption claims the party submitted to parliament to support their motion of Vote of No Confidence in 2012.
MP Falisi Tupou told Kaniva Pacific that the FIDP is just following up on its 2012 Vote of No Confidence submission in which they lost to government 13-11.
He said the party works according to its normal procedure set out to follow when it members believe they are hindered politically in their attempts to seek justice against cabinet ministers.
“It is not something new. The party has to take every avenue opened to bring those who are accused to justice. We have lost in the vote of no confidence just because we did not have the number. But we still have the courts and the king also to refer these matters to them,” he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister Hon Samiu Vaipulu became a target of the opposition party’s campaign to dismiss Tu’ivakano’s government, after he has been regularly accused of a number of unlawful activities inside the government.
MP Tupou said the Party led by MP Sione Taione has filed a lawsuit against Hon Vaipulu accusing him together with the government for illegal payouts made to some of the nobles on lease deals.
Hon Vaipulu was also recently accused of a purported sexual misconduct with one of the government’s CEO’s in a cocktail party in which they were also allegedly danced to pop music while it was Sunday breaching Tonga’s Sabbath law.
MP Tupou also said that last month the Party led by ‘Akilisi filed another lawsuit against 3 top leaders namely Hon Princess Pilolevu Tuita, Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakano and the Minister of Justice, Hon Clive Edwards accusing them of fraud and corruption relating to a payment made between the Princess’s Tongasat company and the government of Tonga.
The case was first heard in court on February 28 and was then postponed to March 6.
These two cases according to Tupou were based on some of the clauses contained in their submission filed to support their 2012 motion of Vote of No Confidence.
