Prime Minister‘Akilisi Pōhiva will retain his parliamentary seat as Tongatapu 1 MP in the upcoming snap election, but he and his Party will not be able to form a government, publisher Kalafi Moala has predicted.
Moala said his view of what would happen was based on a survey of the electorate and looking at other factors.
“Whether he will win or lose, one thing I am certain of is that he will not be able to form a government”, Moala said.
“That’s my bet, but of course I could be very wrong, but we’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.
“He will not get the majority of the MPs to form a government.”
Moala, who recently called on Pohiva to step down because of incompetence, said he believed eight or nine candidates, who were critics of Pōhiva and were not members of his Democratic Party could be elected in the November general election.
With that number, the nobles would only need five MPs so they could form a government, he said.
The rest of them would back a noble and independent-led government.
Moala said the other possibility was that the eight or nine elected independent MPs could be kingmakers and only require five nobles to form a government.
Survey
Moala said he and a group had conducted surveys in Tongatapu 1.
“The way we looked at it at the moment, ‘Akilisi will win Tongatapu 1,” he said.
“Mosese Manuofetoa was more active than the others and was followed by Netatua Taufatofua and Dr. Ofo Niumeitolu”, Moala said in Tongan.
He said they supported a call for candidates to register and run for Parliament and there was a plan that in one month before the election they would meet to review their campaigns.
If any candidates felt they could not make it they would be encouraged to step back and support others, Moala said.
He said this did not mean the candidates had to withdraw their names from the Election Office’s registration as they could not do that according to the law.
The plan was for them to talk to their supporters and encourage them to vote for the other candidates.
Meeting
Moala said after inviting the candidates other than Pohiva so they could look at their campaigns only four turned up, of whom only one was willing to beg off and support others.
They later talked to them individually, but none of them was in the mood to withdraw.
Moala said the idea that some candidates would withdraw had been ditched and everyone would stand against Hon. Pōhiva.
Democratic Party
Meanwhile Hon. Pōhiva, who was first elected in 1987 and is the longest serving MP in the Tongan parliament, continued leading strong campaigns around Tongatapu electorates in support of the party’s candidates.
Yesterday he arrived with some members of his party in the island of ‘Eua to support their candidate, Sūnia Havea.
Nine members of Tonga’s 26-seat parliament are chosen solely by the 33 members of the country’s nobility while the other 17 seats are elected by the people.
The main points
- Prime Minister‘Akilisi Pōhiva was predicted to retain his parliamentary seat as Tongatapu 1 MP in the upcoming snap election, but would not could be able to form a government, publisher Kalafi Moala has predicted.
- Moala said his view of what would happen was based on a survey of the electorate and looking at other factors.
- He said he believed eight or nine candidates, who were critics of Pohiva and were not members of his Democratic Party could be elected in the November general election.
- With that number, the nobles would only need five MPs so they could form a government, he said.
For more information
Desperate move to reduce candidate numbers in attempt to unseat ‘Akilisi Pōhiva unlawful, Fonua says
