07-25-2010, 04:11 PM
Salary Commission bill ends stiff resistance from self-paid MPs
20 Jul 2010, 14:48
Nuku'alofa, Tonga:
By Pesi Fonua
A REFORM bill that will allow an independent commission to set the salaries of members of parliament, before it was passed this month, met stiff resistance in the House from members who have long enjoyed setting their own salaries.
The move to allow an independent body to set parliamentary salaries had been resisted since 2002.
A new Bill for a Salary Commission Act 2010, was one of five reform bills that were presented to the House on the morning of July 13, but all day there was indifference to the Bill by People's Representatives, particularly 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu and Clive Edwards.
Then in the afternoon, the Prime Minister, Dr Feleti Sevele, in frustration, called on the Speaker to close parliament and said that they might as well all go home if they were not willing to debate the reform bills. He was responding to an insistence by 'Akilisi Pohiva and other members of parliament who wanted to defer the debate on the Bill for the new parliament to be elected in November to deal with.
However, the Speaker reminded the Prime Minister that if they closed the House it would mean that they would have to postpone Tonga's political reform, which had been scheduled for November.
"Let it be it . . . if that is what they want then they should move a motion, and that is my input to this discussion," said the Prime Minister.
Opposition
PRs 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu and Clive Edwards had been haggling all morning against the Bill to establish a Salary Commission to determine the salaries of members of parliament.
PR 'Isileli Pulu at one point argued that because the House had passed the new budget it was inappropriate for the House to pass a Bill for a Salary Commission to determine the salaries of the House.
The Minister of Information, Hon. 'Eseta Fusitu'a thought that was a very weak point since 'Isileli Pulu, last year after the House passed the 2009-10 budget, had moved for members of the House to draw half of their pensions. This advance pension pay out was, of course, approved by the House last year.
Speaker
The Speaker and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee did not help the situation, as the Speaker repeatedly made comments supporting the PRs, and the Chairman Noble Lasike could not get a proper debate going, as he allowed the PRs to make general remarks, instead of following the Rules and Regulations of the House and starting from Clause 1 downward.
But the call by the PM for the House to close brought the proceedings of the House back to face the realities of reform, and there was awareness that if the Bill for a Salary Commission Act was not passed there would be no political reform.
"If the House passes the Bill, what will happen?" asked the Speaker.
The PM explained that once the Bill became an Act commissioners would be appointed and they would start working.
He told the Speaker and the PRs that their resistance to the Bill was because they were scared that the new Salary Commission would immediately set to work and review the salaries of the members of parliament.
PR 'Isileli Pulu vehemently denied that they were scared, instead, he claimed that the Cabinet Ministers were the ones who were scared, when they separated their salaries from that of other members of the House.
Higher Salaries Commission
The debate then went back in time to 2002 when government initiated the Public Service Reform Program.
The Prime Minister elaborated that PR Clive Edwards might still remember when he was a Cabinet Minister, when the Higher Salary Commission, headed by the now Minister of Finance, was formed in 2005. It followed with the recruitment of Mr Peter Salway who had made recommendations for how the salaries of members of the House should be structured.
At the time the House was divided over Mr Salway's recommendations; the Nobles' Representatives and the People's Representatives wanted the House to continue to decide the salaries of the House. The Cabinet Ministers, on the other hand, had accepted Mr Salway's recommendation, which was for Cabinet Ministers to earn only one set of salaries under a new formula, which would combine their ministerial salaries and their salaries as members of parliament.
Cabinet Ministers
The PM said that the claim that had been repeatedly made by 'Akilisi Pohiva and 'Isileli Pulu that the Privy Council set the salaries of Cabinet Ministers was false. "There was a covenant by the Privy Council on February 2005 for Cabinet Ministers to resign from being Civil Servants, losing their privileges as civil servants, their salaries and allowances then were in accordance with what was set out by Mr Salway."
'Akilisi insisted that he had a copy of a Privy Council decision prepared by one of the Law Lords.
The Prime Minister told the Speaker that the PR was lying again and was introducing false information into the House. He pleaded with the Speaker and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee to be careful with the kind of materials they allowed to be distributed in the House.
No proper debate
When the House closed on Tuesday July 13, the Speaker had not called for votes on the PM's motion for the House to be closed down, and the members still had not engaged in a proper debate on the Bill. Some members though were suspicious that the Cabinet was setting up a Commission to cut their salaries.
When the House reconvened on Thursday July 15, the acting Chairman of the Whole House Committee, Noble Tu'iha'ateiho presided and this time the debate started from Clause 1 of the Bill. The PRs, 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu, Clive Edwards, 'Etuate Lavulavu and Sunia Fili continued to argue for a deference of the Bill to next year, but without any strong argument other than their obvious concern about their own pay packets.
When the House reconvened after lunch break, the Committee passed all the 13 Clauses in the Bill for a Salary Commission Act. The Chairman called for votes and the Bill for a Salary Commission Act was carried 16-0.
Big payouts
The passing of the Bill has ended a long resistance by members to relinquishing control over their own salaries. In 2006 the Tongan parliament made an unprecedented decision to bring in an independent assessor to look at the salaries of the House. But on October 16, 2006, the House, particularly the elected members, rejected the salary recommendations. Then, to be in line with a large 2005 salary rise of the Civil Servants, the parliamentarians gave themselves a 60% salary rise and back-dated it for 15 months to July 1, 2005
Source : (http://www.matangitonga.to )
20 Jul 2010, 14:48
Nuku'alofa, Tonga:
By Pesi Fonua
A REFORM bill that will allow an independent commission to set the salaries of members of parliament, before it was passed this month, met stiff resistance in the House from members who have long enjoyed setting their own salaries.
The move to allow an independent body to set parliamentary salaries had been resisted since 2002.
A new Bill for a Salary Commission Act 2010, was one of five reform bills that were presented to the House on the morning of July 13, but all day there was indifference to the Bill by People's Representatives, particularly 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu and Clive Edwards.
Then in the afternoon, the Prime Minister, Dr Feleti Sevele, in frustration, called on the Speaker to close parliament and said that they might as well all go home if they were not willing to debate the reform bills. He was responding to an insistence by 'Akilisi Pohiva and other members of parliament who wanted to defer the debate on the Bill for the new parliament to be elected in November to deal with.
However, the Speaker reminded the Prime Minister that if they closed the House it would mean that they would have to postpone Tonga's political reform, which had been scheduled for November.
"Let it be it . . . if that is what they want then they should move a motion, and that is my input to this discussion," said the Prime Minister.
Opposition
PRs 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu and Clive Edwards had been haggling all morning against the Bill to establish a Salary Commission to determine the salaries of members of parliament.
PR 'Isileli Pulu at one point argued that because the House had passed the new budget it was inappropriate for the House to pass a Bill for a Salary Commission to determine the salaries of the House.
The Minister of Information, Hon. 'Eseta Fusitu'a thought that was a very weak point since 'Isileli Pulu, last year after the House passed the 2009-10 budget, had moved for members of the House to draw half of their pensions. This advance pension pay out was, of course, approved by the House last year.
Speaker
The Speaker and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee did not help the situation, as the Speaker repeatedly made comments supporting the PRs, and the Chairman Noble Lasike could not get a proper debate going, as he allowed the PRs to make general remarks, instead of following the Rules and Regulations of the House and starting from Clause 1 downward.
But the call by the PM for the House to close brought the proceedings of the House back to face the realities of reform, and there was awareness that if the Bill for a Salary Commission Act was not passed there would be no political reform.
"If the House passes the Bill, what will happen?" asked the Speaker.
The PM explained that once the Bill became an Act commissioners would be appointed and they would start working.
He told the Speaker and the PRs that their resistance to the Bill was because they were scared that the new Salary Commission would immediately set to work and review the salaries of the members of parliament.
PR 'Isileli Pulu vehemently denied that they were scared, instead, he claimed that the Cabinet Ministers were the ones who were scared, when they separated their salaries from that of other members of the House.
Higher Salaries Commission
The debate then went back in time to 2002 when government initiated the Public Service Reform Program.
The Prime Minister elaborated that PR Clive Edwards might still remember when he was a Cabinet Minister, when the Higher Salary Commission, headed by the now Minister of Finance, was formed in 2005. It followed with the recruitment of Mr Peter Salway who had made recommendations for how the salaries of members of the House should be structured.
At the time the House was divided over Mr Salway's recommendations; the Nobles' Representatives and the People's Representatives wanted the House to continue to decide the salaries of the House. The Cabinet Ministers, on the other hand, had accepted Mr Salway's recommendation, which was for Cabinet Ministers to earn only one set of salaries under a new formula, which would combine their ministerial salaries and their salaries as members of parliament.
Cabinet Ministers
The PM said that the claim that had been repeatedly made by 'Akilisi Pohiva and 'Isileli Pulu that the Privy Council set the salaries of Cabinet Ministers was false. "There was a covenant by the Privy Council on February 2005 for Cabinet Ministers to resign from being Civil Servants, losing their privileges as civil servants, their salaries and allowances then were in accordance with what was set out by Mr Salway."
'Akilisi insisted that he had a copy of a Privy Council decision prepared by one of the Law Lords.
The Prime Minister told the Speaker that the PR was lying again and was introducing false information into the House. He pleaded with the Speaker and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee to be careful with the kind of materials they allowed to be distributed in the House.
No proper debate
When the House closed on Tuesday July 13, the Speaker had not called for votes on the PM's motion for the House to be closed down, and the members still had not engaged in a proper debate on the Bill. Some members though were suspicious that the Cabinet was setting up a Commission to cut their salaries.
When the House reconvened on Thursday July 15, the acting Chairman of the Whole House Committee, Noble Tu'iha'ateiho presided and this time the debate started from Clause 1 of the Bill. The PRs, 'Akilisi Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu, Clive Edwards, 'Etuate Lavulavu and Sunia Fili continued to argue for a deference of the Bill to next year, but without any strong argument other than their obvious concern about their own pay packets.
When the House reconvened after lunch break, the Committee passed all the 13 Clauses in the Bill for a Salary Commission Act. The Chairman called for votes and the Bill for a Salary Commission Act was carried 16-0.
Big payouts
The passing of the Bill has ended a long resistance by members to relinquishing control over their own salaries. In 2006 the Tongan parliament made an unprecedented decision to bring in an independent assessor to look at the salaries of the House. But on October 16, 2006, the House, particularly the elected members, rejected the salary recommendations. Then, to be in line with a large 2005 salary rise of the Civil Servants, the parliamentarians gave themselves a 60% salary rise and back-dated it for 15 months to July 1, 2005
Source : (http://www.matangitonga.to )