9 Oct 2021

Change unlikely after next month's Tonga poll - academic

From , 6:01 am on 9 October 2021
Tonga MP Sitiveni Halapua

Tonga MP Sitiveni Halapua Photo: Supplied

A noted Pacific academic doubts the new crop of MPs to be elected next month will be able to usher in the change he believes the country needs.

75 candidates are lining up for the 17 parliamentary seats to be decided by the public on November 18th.

Dr Sitiveni Halapua spent many years as a director at the East West Centre in Hawaii, and he has also served a term as a Tongan MP.

He says successive governments have failed to pick up and run with the legislative changes made to the Constitution in 2008, which ushered in greater democracy.

Dr Halapua told Don Wiseman it is not just about leadership.