King Tupou VI (L) officially appoints 'Aisake Eke as Tonga's prime minister Photo: Prime Minister's Office
The new Tongan government of 'Aisake Eke has just a few months to make its mark ahead of national elections in November.
Eke was elected following the resignation of Hu'akavameliku Siaosi Sovaleni in December.
There was then a protracted period during which a Cabinet could not be formed.
King Tupou VI is believed to have had significant input, with his son, Crown Prince Tuputo'a, taking the key ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence.
RNZ Pacific's Tonga correspondent, Kalafi Moala, spoke with RNZ Pacific about what the new government might achieve.
(The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Don Wiseman: Finally, after weeks of what appeared have been haggling over the Cabinet, there's a government in place in Tonga. What does it actually mean? What is it that this government is endeavouring to do?
Kalafi Moala: The rhetoric that has been coming through is that they are going to bring major changes in every realm - infrastructure, auditing of finances and all of that. But they only have eight months to do that. They can't do much. But the real issue has been the fact that they have gotten rid of the old government. These guys don't have a united plan yet. They are still working on it, and some of the events that have occured in the last few days, reveal that they have not met and planned together strategically.
Each one of the members of the Cabinet seems to be speaking a kind of a different language, often without the Prime Minister necessarily knowing about it. This an interesting development, but the big thing is that the former prime minister and his government are no longer in power. There is a new group that's in power. It is a group that the King is quite pleased with. We will have to wait and see what they are going to produce.
DW: Their big thing so far seems to have been opening government offices through the lunch hour.
KM: Well, the way the public takes it is that it is good that the offices remain open in that time, because when you go to a government office, you cannot go during the lunch time to do your things. So, this will provide a much better service for the public.
But they have also announced other things. For example, that there is going to be a drop in the cost of power. The government subsidy is going to be increased, meaning that electricity is going to be much lower for the customers. But on the other hand, they are making that up by removing the free education that was provided for certain forms in the schools. So, parents are going to have now pay for education.
They are going to get rid of the free breakfast that was provided for primary schools. For me, just looking at it, it is like a campaign. On one hand, lowering the cost of one thing and increasing the cost of something else to balance it out.
DW: Now there has been long been a lot of debate over the replacement houses being built for the people who were affected by the tsunami, and that is ongoing. What will they do differently?
KM: The key thing that they have announced is they are going to audit to make sure that the money that was allocated for restoration of housing and rebuilding of new settlements, people that were affected in the tsunami, that the money went to that. There are all kinds of allegations that funding for that went somewhere else. That is why they could not complete some of the projects. But then auditing is something they cannot do overnight. It is going to take some time for them to audit and put that together.
That is where they are at right now. I don't think they are going to finish auditing it by the time that the election comes around. But that is a good thing that theya are going to do. It is about time they do that because people that are affected by the tsunami and were promised housing and help, some of them are still living in tents.
DW: Going into this vote of no confidence there before Christmas, 'Aisaki Eke was speaking darkly, without elaborating about all the grievous wrongs by the previous government and the reason why, in his view, they needed to be removed. But he has not expanded on that in any way, has he?
KM: No, he has not. And the more you probe into it and ask questions within the quarters of government, the more you come to the conclusion it was basically a long shot. It was an allegation. It was just thrown out there. They have got to come up with clear evidence of money that has been misspent. They have got to come up with clear evidence of rules that have been violated. Right now, they are just busy trying to be united as a Cabinet and coming up with some kind of clear plans on what to do in the next few months.
DW: Now, the previous prime minister continues to sit in parliament with at least some of his Cabinet. Will hee be eyeing a return to power in the next election?
KM: Definitely. He is one of the representatives in Tonga that is very strong in his constituency, with very little or no challenge at all from anyone. The expectation is going to be he will be re-elected. In the meantime, they are going to regroup as a government with his friends and former colleagues to really go again for the Prime Minister vote. It depends how this government within the next few months is going to operate [and] whether they are going to last beyond November or not.
