The Tongan government is accusing the Public Service Association of making false claims to justify a failed strike action.
Transcript
The Tongan government is accusing the Public Service Association of making false claims to justify a failed strike action.
The PSA says hundreds of public servants have called off their strike after the Minister for Justice, Clive Edwards, said the government would declare a state of emergency.
But as Mary Baines reports, Mr Edwards says that's nonsense.
The PSA secretary general, Mele Amanaki, says she heard Mr Edwards on local radio threatening a state of emergency if workers went on strike. Ms Amanaki says under emergency powers, the government would be able to use the military to dissolve any political gathering of more than five people. She says because of concern about PSA members' safety, the strike was called off.
MELE AMANAKI: They've got the authority to tell the army to enter the homes of our members or the public servants and take them to prison if they think there would be any riots. Therefore that's why we [have] withdrawn the strike.
Ms Amanaki says if the government invoked its emergency powers, it would have the authority to postpone the general election in November. She says the PSA could not let that happen, as it wants a change in government. The PSA wants up to 22 percent in cost of living adjustments to be paid to workers over the next two years, with an immediate commitment to at least six percent. Ms Amanaki says after the election, the PSA will call for a judicial review of the government for its handling of the proposed strike.
MELE AMANAKI: We will submit to the Supreme Court to make a judicial review on these threats that have been done by government to a peaceful strike action, so that if we have any strike action in the future, these decisions that have been made by government would have been cleared by then.
But the Minister for Justice, Clive Edwards, says his statements were taken out of context by the PSA and he never threatened a state of emergency.
CLIVE EDWARDS: I said if the strike goes to the stage where the whole government is paralysed, then we would be able to invoke the emergency powers and declare that Tonga is in a state of emergency. And that's all I said in answer to if the strike gets to that point. But we were not, and at no stage had we intended to use the emergency powers at all.
Mr Edwards says the PSA is using his comments as an excuse to justify a failed strike.
CLIVE EDWARDS: No one was supporting her. When she called the meeting for civil servants who were striking, on 5 o'clock on Friday, nobody turned up. She was just bluffing because she is hoping to get people to come in because it is important for her.
Mr Edwards says Ms Amanaki is running as a candidate and is using the issue to get publicity.
CLIVE EDWARDS: It's unfortunate that she is playing with government and the country in this manner as an irresponsible candidate. And she is trying to make up stories to justify the alleged strike which she was saying she was taking on behalf of civil servants, when no civil servants were supporting the strike. That's something we'll be looking into.
The Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano, has said Tonga cannot afford the demand for a 22 percent increase in wages as it is repaying a 6.5 million US dollar loan to China.
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