PSA head Mele ‘Amanaki attacks Kaniva over MP Lavulavu supporting PM Pōhiva’s story

'Oku taupotu 'i lalo ha fakamatala faka-Tonga

The head of the Public Service Association, Mele ‘Amanaki, has attacked Kaniva again; this time over a story we ran about MP ‘Akosita Lavulavu’s revelation that she still supported Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva despite the fact he forced her to resign.

‘Amanaki told her followers on Facebook that either the story or the journalist who wrote it were funny.

She was disappointed that Kaniva published the revelation last week and said Lavulavu formally tendered her resignation on June 18.

“’Akosita H. Lavulavu resigned about 1.8 months ago in June, where was Kaniva Tonga then to interview her?” she asked.

“As claimed “to be the largest Tongan Community online site”, surely Kaniva would not have missed Akosita’s press release then? This is why I found this news to be funny. Where was Kaniva 2 months ago when this was big news then? , ‘Amanaki complained.

“When a Journalist or media repeated an incident/event [there is a reason] Koe fakamanatua (in memory) or it is a lead up to something else.”

” [Love you] ‘Ofa atu ‘Akosita H. Lavulavu. Stand steadfast on what is right, let no politician and/or journalist move you! Keep up the good work!”, ‘Amanaki wrote.

No press release

‘Amanaki claimed a press release had been issued about MP Lavulavu’s resignation.

When MP Lavulavu was asked whether she had issued a press release about her resignation, she said she only found out media had obtained her resignation letter after somebody tagged her on a Facebook post which carried a copy of her letter.

She said Radio FM 87.5 broadcast news in Tongan about her resignation by reading out the letter, but they did not interview her.

‘Amanaki told her followers she was trying to understand why Kaniva did not report the story immediately after Lavulavu resigned.

She suggested this was because Kaniva  either had a political agenda or we were angry with MP Lavulavu.

In Tongan she said: “’Ita ia ‘ia Sita ‘o ‘ikao report mai? Pe uesia ia he’ene political belief? Koe anga ia e fifilii….”

‘Amanaki Vs PTOA

‘Amanaki, who was dumped by the Prime Minister and the Democrats in the November snap election, has continued to campaign against the Prime Minister and the Party.

She has repeatedly accused the Prime Minister on Facebook of alleged frauds, nepotism and favouritism.

She also initiated a petition calling for Hon Pōhiva and the government recently to step down.

The petition was described by Deputy Prime Minister Sēmisi Sika in an interview as being based on lies from the beginning to the end.

However, ‘Amanaki’s attack met with a backlash on Facebook, with many saying they thought Kaniva’s story was news because this was the first time they had heard that MP Lavulavu finally resigned.

Another replied and said the story was news because it was important for the public to know where was MP Lavulavu’s political stance after she was being dismissed.

Previous attack

‘Amanaki previously attacked Kaniva about two months ago after we ran a story saying she had accused Democrat supporters of writing swear words on her petition for an investigation into Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva and six other ministers.

We also said there were complaints on Facebook by some concerned Tongans who said the names of dead family members appeared as signatures on the petition.

‘Amanaki said our story was unbalanced. She said that when we interviewed her  she asked us to give her the names of those who complained about dead family members signatures on the petition. But Kaniva’s editor responded to her on Facebook and said he could not give her the names of those complainants without their consent and we were obliged to protect their identities.

Editor’s comments:

‘Amanaki has the right to criticise our work and we respect that.

However, the way she has tried to make a personal attack to discredit our report makes it look as if we have somehow become part of her campaign against Hon Pōhiva and the government.

This would be sad because she is head of the PSA, which represents the interests of more than 4000 members working in government departments, local government and the private sector. Many of those people are our readers, including those who contribute stories, photos and ideas to Kaniva Tonga news.

Her attack last week claiming that our story on MP Lavulavu was not news was baseless.

The news

Journalists are trained to judge news  based on a number of criteria, including whether the information is new, whether it is unusual, whether it is interesting or significant and whether it is about people.

Equally importantly, this is a story about democracy, government and the political development of our kingdom, something that is clearly in the public interest.

Our story about MP Lavulavu met all of these criteria. We were the only news media to speak with MP Lavulavu when we found out last month she had finally resigned. We were the first to report that despite everything she still supported Hon Pōhiva and his government.

MP Lavulavu’s action was praised by many on Facebook, while ‘Amanaki was criticised for what some have described as a hate campaign against PM Pōhiva.

‘Amanaki clearly did not like to see MP Lavulavu having the courage to still support the Prime Minister, even after she was forced to resign.

For more information 

PSA head rebuts Kele’a newspaper’s attacks as petition to investigate Cabinet submitted

PSA head rebuts Kele’a newspaper’s attacks as petition to investigate Cabinet submitted

PSA head rebuts Kele’a newspaper’s attacks as petition to investigate Cabinet submitted

About The Author

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