The quest for constitutional reform in Tonga

Tonga's constitution was originally a liberal, 19th century document that economically combined popular representation and aristocratic direction in a unicameral vehicle instead of the conventional bicameral legislature. Subsequent amendments strengthened the executive, and the greatest of all, in 1914, significantly reduced representation of both nobles and people. The configuration of power sharing has not changed despite numerous minor constitutional amendments since. There was no significant pressure for fundamental constitutional changes until the 1990s. Whereas earlier reforms were initiated by the executive, the modern reform movement comes from the people's representatives and a small group of supporters drawn from the foreign-educated sector. This pressure has been ignored by the executive, and commands insignificant support from the nobles. The dissatisfaction with the system of representation and the distribution of power arose from the exposure of lavish provisions for overtime payments for members of parliament. Earlier dissatisfaction with government over land tenure had no such result. The impotence of people's representatives was revealed and grievances became focused on the principle of accountability. Failure to make progress on this issue drew attention to the concentration of power by custom as well as law, in the hands of the executive. Reformists began to consider institutional ways of making government accountable. Unfocused talk of democracy coalesced into a series of formal conferences in 1992, 1998 and 1999, all of them dismissed by government. Undeterred, the reform movement became better organised and, in 2002, produced two discussion documents outlining alternative constitutions in an attempt to frame a solution that co-opts modernity without abandoning Tongan tradition. The conservatism of these proposals suggests that in modern politics, culture will continue to prevail over institutional rationality.