Tongan PM Pohiva: All MPs should go to jail, including himself

Nuku’alofa: Tonga’s Prime Minister told Parliament last Friday that he wanted to send all members to prison, including himself, because they did not take action on an Auditor General’s annual report from 201213 that had been previously presented to Parliament.

He said the report had revealed that it was illegal for government to pay a $90 million pa’anga (FJ$83m) grant from China to Tongasat. However, he said that they would only do their prison time at the weekends in the morning, and members would take turns — two at a time. First on the list were himself, the Prime Minister, and the acting Speaker Lord Tu‘ilakepa.

Mr Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa (the former AG) told the House how excited he was to tell the PM of his report. He also related that it was a long journey for him to be elected into parliament, but he said it was all worth it, even though now he was walking on three legs, with the help of a walking stick. The acting Speaker, Lord Tu‘ilakepa reminded the member that he would still have to serve his sentence, and being handicapped with three legs would not set him free. He asked the Prime Minister to conclude the discussion so they could start on the House agenda. Parliament is waiting to debate an Auditor General’s report but not the one that the PM was referring to. The new Auditor General’s report on the House agenda, looks into alleged claims of misuse of public funds by the Prime Minister and six other cabinet ministers, including the former Auditor-General Hon. Pohiva Tui‘i‘onetoa, who is now the Minister of Finance.

A petition was filed with Parliament in May calling for the dismissal of these seven cabinet members.