The Advisor for Tonga’s Prime Minister – Lopeti Senituli  fought back against reports which blamed the Prime Minister and his government.

 

Lopeti Senituli accused six political bodies in Tonga for the recent deaths of six people and enormous damage in Tongatapu during the 16/11 riot. Senituli told TV3, it was an “attempted coup” to kill the Prime Minister and some key political figures”.  This is the first time the term “coup” has emerged in Tongan political sound-bites.  The use of this term shocked the leader of the People’s Committee for Political Reform and New Zealanders.  Dr. ‘Okusi Mahina told NiuFM that talk of killing the prime minister and cabinet ministers is just going overboard.  Pro-democracy supporter Vilimani Soane told TNews he doesn’t believe the report’s accusations and that “he started to realise a pattern of Senituli’s pathetic lies.”

 

Senituli has just released a 21 page report which claims the following: “It is the People’s Committee for Political Reform that was responsible for the violence of 16 November 2006.  If it is necessary to be more specific about the main instigators and perpetrators form within the PCPR – they were the (seven) Peoples’ Representatives to the Legislative Assembly; the Tonga National Business Association; the Tonga Democratic Party; the Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy Movement; the Public Servants Association and the Pangai Si’i Committee.”

 

Although Senituli told TNEWS on the 20th November 2006, the “government is partly to be blamed, this time, he changed his mind and refused to include the “government” in the above list.  

 

The lack of hard evidence provided by Lopeti Senituli to support his accusations caused a lot of people to react and discredit his report.  When questioned by TNEWS regarding his source of evidence, Senituli claimed his judgement was based on what he thinks and his analysis of the historical development of the events leading up to 16/11.

 

‘Akilisi Pohiva fiercely denies the allegations and told TNEWS there was no such plan and he is surprised that Senituli made such false, outrageous allegations.  Pohiva said, he is going to call an urgent meeting with all the committees to discuss such serious allegations and legal action will be taken.

 

Meantime, Dr. ‘Ana Taufe’ulunaki claims in a confidential USP report, that the Tonga Government failed to see the urgency in the warning signs.  She went on to imply, that because of the inability of the Prime Minister’s Advisor (Lopeti Senituli) to perform in a higher level of diplomacy, he should step down.  Lopeti Senituli told TNEWS he would not resign.