TONGA – Tonga’s Prime Minister said his government was deadlocked and struggling because some chief executive officers and top officials did not like him and his government.

The prime minister said this was a big problem for him and he found it really hard to cope.

‘Akilisi Pohiva said the way the cabinet and the Privy Council existed at present showed their responsibilities were not “well defined.”

In an interview with Kaniva News in Auckland last week, Pohiva said he thought they should have the power to ensure the CEOs, government commissioners and the attorney general did what the government wanted for the benefit of the people.

“If the attorney general does not like me and we are not on the same page, how can we work together if he was chosen to the post,” Pohiva said in Tongan.

“Look at the passports scandal. We wanted to see it is being done but we do not know what happened because we have no power over the commissioner of police.

“This is a big problem for the work we wanted to do so that we moved forward with our development policies.

The auditor general has announced the Tonga Forest records have been burnt and millions of dollars were unaccounted for, but still no legal action had been taken against those responsible.

Pohiva said there was no way the cabinet could do anything about it because it does not have the power to launch a prosecution.

He said the CEOs were elected by the Public Service Commission while the commissioners and the attorney general were lected by the Privy Council and the government had no say in the process.

Pohiva said some top officials in government still stuck to the old system in which royals and the nobility were the priority when it came to matters that dealt with opportunities and privileges.

He said his government wanted to change that mentality and attitude and make sure the people became first.

The prime minister’s concerns were made public to Tongans in New Zealand and abroad over the Kaniva Tonga’s radio programme on Planet FM 104.6 on Monday.

Editor Kalino Latu said listeners were told they would be alerted when they could be calling the programme.

But while he was talking about he prime minister’s interview, listeners started calling, with many saying they could not wait to release their concerns at the issues.

All callers stood by the prime minister and wanted change to the Tongan law so that the problem could be solved.

One caller said the news had caused him a headache.

He agreed with the prime minister that there were people inside the government who were trying to stop it running smoothly.

“I feel my heart will stop while I am speaking,” he said.

He asked the prime minister to be patient as the people causing problems would not last long.

“We love our nation and we did not want to hear this kind of news,” he said.

Another caller wanted to annul the appointment of life peers and their titles.

“We only have one Lord Jesus Christ. What are these Tongan lords for?” he asked.

A female caller said She thought the prime minister had the power to remove those who did not want to co-operate and stand by the government.

She suggested Tongans in New Zealand launch a petition to the Tongan King asking him to do something about the people Pohiva was referring to.

She said if the people did not want to petition the King she would write a letter to the king herself.

Another female caller said she felt the prime minister and his government had to spend a lot of time cleaning up the mess left behind by former governments.

Another caller said the government had the power to change or pass laws in parliament so that the government had voices in electing the CEOs, commissioners and the attorney general.” - Kaniva News