Tongan PM responds to criticism

Transcript

The Tongan Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pohiva is staring down a motion of no confidence when he returns from his trip to New Zealand, but says he has the support of cabinet.

'Akilisi Pohiva the Prime Minister of Tonga Photo: Alex Perrottet / RNZ

Lord Vaea has indicated all the nobles will unite, but he will need to draw independent MPs across the floor to defeat the PM.

Amid criticisms of his handling of the economy, and claims of increased corruption in the country, 'Akilisi Pohiva says it's not an easy job and he can't see his government making major changes before the end of his term.

Tonga's Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pohiva Photo: Alex Perrottet / RNZ

He told Alex Perrottet a major task is to ensure the country can pay its dues, particularly its US$170 million debt to China.

'AKILISI POHIVA: That is an enormous loan from the Chinese government and there has been an arrangement between the two countries how to go about that huge loan but we are trying, we are trying to find a way out and there is no other option for Tonga, is to borrow, is to borrow because we need money for our development. I think we share the same problem with other countries in the South Pacific, Fiji and Samoa and other smaller nations, they borrow from China. There's no other option for Tonga. If we need to make our economy move, if we want to move forward, we have to borrow money.

ALEX PERROTTET: It's being 18 months since you were elected, you came to the Prime Minister's role on a promise of accountability, of respect for the rule of law of weeding out corruption. Recently one your former media advisers told us that Tonga has never been more corrupt than now. There's a sense of real disappointment in the way things are going in Tonga, how do you respond to that?

'AP: Well our top priority is governance, and why do we do it, because corruption is rife, and that is why we will continue to maintain the principle of good governance, because this is the only way we can ensure that we can reduce, we can fight against corruption in the country. But this is not an easy exercise, because we have to have appropriate laws in place so we can use the law, the appropriate legislation and law to fight against corruption in the country.

AP: You are almost halfway through your term - is there enough time?

'AP: I don't think so, because there is quite a lot of work to do. And there's little time to get things established before I retire from government, so now I am looking for younger people to carry out, to continue the struggle because political reform is yet to be completed and I need some people to make sure they can complete it. So there's quite a lot of work which remains to be done and completed.

AP: And you're saying you doubt you can achieve much even in the next two years?

'AP: Well I think we have done more than enough work according to our vision and our mission, but it is not easy, because how to implement our vision is a real problem, because there are constraints all along and it is not easy to remove these constraints.

AP: What do you mean when you talk about constraints? You have a majority in parliament, it's a small country, surely it can't be that difficult?

'AP: No it is difficult, because when I say constraints I am referring to cultural constraints and the other aspect of the problem is the mentality and the mindset of the people and the leaders as well we have to resolve this problem, because it is not really a matter of policies, because we have in place more than enough reports and economic analyses carried out by the World Bank, IMF and other international financial institutions. The problem is how to implement all these proposals, it is not easy. It is not a question of the people I work with, it is much more a problem of the structure of the government and the mindset of the civil servant and the attitude of the leaders. All these, they are requirements that have to be fulfilled so that we can carry out our development plan.