21 Jun 2012

Error forces resubmission of Tonga no confidence motion

1:35 pm on 21 June 2012

A vote of no confidence in the Tongan government is still set to be held early next week despite the Speaker, Lord Lasike, ordering that part of the motion be re-submitted.

The opposition has called for the vote, saying the government of Lord Tu'ivakano has lost the trust of the people.

Radio Tonga reports that Lord Lasike rejected the motion because it included a replacement head of government.

But the opposition leader, Akilisi Pohiva, says it was just a book keeping error and the motion should have been presented as two separate documents.

He says the mistake has been corrected and the vote should still take place as scheduled.

"The House rules clearly state that the motion for a vote of no confidence is a separate document, so we have to separate the two documents according to the House rules and we did it yesterday (Wednesday). The second document is who is going to be the prime minister, who is nominated to be the prime minister and also the grounds for the motion."

Akilisi Pohiva.