Cold war lingers between Pohiva’s government and Tonga’s national broadcaster

The cold war between Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva and the government-funded Tonga Broadcasting Commission appears to be still in force.

The Prime Minister clashed with Radio and Television Tonga news manager Viola Ulakai at a press conference on Friday, accusing the national broadcaster of having a malicious attitude towards his government.

As Kaniva Pacific reported in April, Hon. Pohiva recommended suspending Ulakai after she had falsely claimed that a request for a press conference was made on behalf of the Tongan Media Council.

At the time we reported that the national broadcaster had a long history of general bias and partiality when reporting on Hon. Pohiva and the democrats.

The planned suspension of Ulakai polarised Pacific news outlets media in the Pacific, including New Zealand and Australia.

Some criticised Hon. Pohiva for failing to live up to the freedom of speech he had promoted for many years in Tonga.

Ulakai escaped the planned suspension and tensions appeared to have eased, after the Prime Minister later appeared on some of Radio and Television Tonga’s programmes.

However during a press conference with the media in Nukuʻalofa on Friday,  Hon. Pohiva blasted the broadcaster for not doing its job fairly.

He said its staffers’ attitudes towards him and his government when reporting were not the same as they had to the previous governments.

Ulakai, who was in the audience, asked the Prime Minister why his government ministers and ministries did not use Radio and Television Tonga, but instead used the Commission’s rival broadcaster, a privately-owned radio.

She said she had invited government ministers to arrange interviews and reports on topics they wanted to discuss, but received no response.

Hon. Pohiva said he felt there was “malice” at the national station towards him and his government.

He said the national broadcaster had once aired a call from a man who threatened to shoot him.

Ulakai  reminded the Prime Minister he had promoted freedom of speech in the past and denied there was any anti-government agenda at the Tonga Broadcasting Commission.

Crimes and health

Hon. Pohiva told the press conference he was concerned at the increasing level of violence and criminal activities in Tonga despite the  many programmes that had been implemented to help criminals change their ways.

With regards to levels of obesity and other non-communicable diseases in Tonga, the prime Minister said his government had policies to educate the people in how to change their eating habits and leisure activities.

Hon. Pohiva said the problem was that his government had been bound by commitments left behind by the former government such as the South Pacific Games in 2019.

Such activities took up much of the government’s time, leaving less time to finding solutions to urgent issues such as health and crime.

The main points

  • The cold war between Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva and the government-funded Tonga Broadcasting Commission appears to be still in force.
  • The Prime Minister clashed with Radio and Television Tonga news manager Viola Ulakai at a press conference on Friday, accusing the national broadcaster of having a malicious attitude towards his government.
  • He said the national broadcaster had once aired a call from a man who threatened to shoot him.
  • Ulakai reminded the Prime Minister he had promoted freedom of speech in the past and denied there was any anti-government agenda at the Tonga Broadcasting Commission.

For more information

TMC denies Ulakai’s claim she requested press conference with PM on behalf of Media Council

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