Tensions between both the two major PTOA chapters in New Zealand have been running high this week, as authorities for PTOA Global New Zealand declared they would not support the protest organised for this Saturday.
The president of the PTOA Global New Zealand said he declined a request from the PTOA International New Zealand to join the rally.
Vainikolo Tāufa told Kaniva News his chapter saw the protest differently from the organisers and the International.
He said his chapter still believed in democracy and the push for Tonga to be more democratic.
As Kaniva News reported earlier this week, a protest to support the vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa’s government will be held in Auckland this Saturday, January 9.
The peaceful protest is being planned by the PTOA International supporters in Auckland.
The supporters are expected to parade along Auckland Central’s Queen Street if an application is allowed by the Auckland City Council.
It is expected the marchers will end up at One Tree Hill with a barbecue.
“The protest on Saturday is not supported by PTOA Global New Zealand,” the chapter’s treasurer ‘Ilaiasi Lelei ‘Ufi said on his Facebook page.
Supporters of the PTOA International said they respected the response from the PTOA Global.
International vs Global
The two chapters became divided after the Global Chapter publicly criticised the PTOA Party in Tonga known as the Core Team, which included all Party MPs, about the way they operated the Party.
The Global chapter, containing the PTOA Global New Zealand and the US PTOA Global, has repeatedly called on the Core Team to remove MP Mateni Tapueluelu after he was accused of causing chaos within the Party leading to its loss of power in September 2019.
The Global chapter has elected New Zealand Tongan-based Money Lender ‘Ilaiasi Lelei ‘Ufi as PTOA candidate to replace Tapueluelu in the upcoming general election in November, something the International did not support. The Global leaders have often criticised Party Leader Sēmisi Sika and Secretary Siaosi Pōhiva.
The International Chapter still supports Tapueluelu and the Party’s 10 MPs and the leadership of Hon. Sika
Global division
In a bizarre twist, the US PTOA Global frontliner Sharon Sēkona broke away from the US chapter last month and declared she no longer trusted Leader Tilila Siola’a Shumchai.
Sēkona alleged there were serious mismanagement and financial irregularities in the group’s financial management.
She and her followers set up a new group called PTOA Kolope.
President Tāufa told Kaniva News they would hold a meeting this Saturday to decide their future with the US Global.
In May last year Prime Minister Tu’i’onetoa, himself a former member of the PTOA, predicted that the Party would row about who would have the power and end up in disarray.
