Tongan passport sales a bone of contention

NEW ZEALAND – The New Zealand Prime Minister John Key welcomed his Tongan counterpart in Auckland this week – ‘Akilisi Pohiva is on a first diplomatic visit, with both leaders dealing with concerns over the sale of Tongan passports.

Pohiva promised Key his country was taking action, having charged at least 12 people this year including a former police officer and Chinese nationals.

The practice has seen thousands of passports sold over the past 25 years.

Pohiva’s first state visit comes during his second year in power, and he made a delicate diplomatic point when asked why it had taken so long, saying it’s a question that should be put to Key.

But a pressing concern between the nations is the alleged sale of diplomatic passports, which are strictly reserved for high-ranking government officials and can be used to obtain diplomatic immunity.

Pohiva suggested authorities are struggling to rein in corruption.

“There has been a continued sales of Tongan passports and this is a very serious case and our government is working very hard. That is an indication of corruption. Law and order, the rule of law is very weak for quite some time.”

Last year the King of Tonga approved a royal commission to investigate the scandal.

Key said it was a pressing concern: “As the Tongan Prime minister said, it’s a serious matter, they are dealing with the issue and New Zealand needs the issue to be dealt with because these are passports, in theory, are not fake passports and we need to have the confidence in the system that a passport that is issued by the Tongan government is legitimate.”

Key says a passport is the most sacrosanct legal document and there’s a risk that New Zealand might lose confidence in Tongan passports.

Pohiva also admitted the country was facing serious economic difficulties in dealing with massive debt, and trying to convert foreign aid into successful projects.

“Foreign aid and assistance from our donor partners is not really the problem. The problem is how to implement these project proposals. That is the real problem. But the problem has always been in the implementation.”

He described the problem with a curious analogy, comparing those threats to ninjas.

“It is not easy in a small society like Tonga, where values and culture, they are real constraints.

“One must have the courage to challenge or even try to remove these constraints before we can – there are ninjas all around, you can kill one ninja and another ninja – there are a lot of ninjas.”

‘Akilisi Pohiva will also be making a visit to Tongan fruit-pickers in the country, praised as essential to the New Zeland industry.

- RNZI