Tonga’s PM seeks way forward

TONGA – Tonga’s Prime Minister and two members of his cabinet have met the Attorney General in an effort to ease apparent tensions between the government and the legal advisor’s office.

In a statement Akilisi Pohiva said he had met Attorney General Aminiasi Kefu “to seek a common pathway forward”.

Pohiva’s government and Kefu have clashed over a number of issues in the past year, including last August’s dissolution of parliament, the royal Privy Council, the Constitution and more recently the arrest of two MPs on separate fraud-related charges.

Pohiva was happy with the meeting saying there would be more regular consultation in the future.

‘Aminiasi Kefu agreed the meeting was a success: “A good relationship has always existed. I need to provide advice more regularly and they need to seek advice more regularly as well and then we are all on the same page.”

Pohiva’s government has continually spoken of the need for cabinet ministers to be included on the Privy Council, which advises and is selected by the King.

The government also wants more say on the appointment of positions like police commissioner and attorney-general, which are currently made on advice by the Privy Council.

This week Pohiva called a meeting with Kefu and two of his ministers to talk of a way forward regarding the relationship between Cabinet and the Privy Council.

Kefu would not divulge what he had said to the prime minister but he expected Pohiva to make his position clear soon.

“He’s going to take that advice with his next audience with His Majesty the King on the hope that there will be a closer working relationship between His Majesty’s Cabinet and His Majesty the King,” he said.

“They will approach His Majesty with what they hope would be something that would help everyone, the whole machinery of government to operate more efficiently and more effectively.”

Kefu said the closer working relationship with the government does not compromise the independence of the Attorney-General’s Office. He said the office will be only advising what is understood to be law.

Kefu said it is then up to the Cabinet to decide whether they accept advice and whether they act in accordance to that advice or seek other legal views they are more comfortable with.

He said the constitution and political reforms of 2010 was designed to provide independence between his office and government.