So far, Somare: Papua New Guinea adjourns democracy

Confusion reigns in Papua New Guinea as conflicting rumours abound whether long-standing Prime Minister Michael Somare is about to resign. Port Moresby’s Courier Mail said Somare is planning to relinquish the party leadership by the time of the National Alliance party's national convention on 14 August. The paper quote Deputy PM Don Polye who said Somare made his decision during a party caucus meeting last week. Polye said Somare would reshuffle the government in the next two weeks and would step aside either before or at the convention.

However, the ABC is reporting National Alliance party spokesperson Stephen Pokawin has denied the newspaper’s report. All Pokawin would confirm was that the party's leadership would be the main topic of discussion at the convention with Polye ready to make a bid for the top job. Pokawin, who is the National Alliance Party's general secretary, says the party constitution prevents Somare from contesting the leadership for a third time, having won elections for the National Alliance in 2002 and again in 2007. Somare was also the country's first PM in 1975 and won again in 1982. The next election is due in 2012.

Somare’s recent actions show little sign of a man wanting to step aside any time soon. Last week he chose eight new Government ministers after three key figures including deputy Puka Temu left to form a new party on Monday. Their aim was to move a vote of no confidence and form a new government. Polye was promoted to take Temu’s job and with his help Somare hung on to defeat the no confidence motion 64-45 to remain Prime Minister.

Badly shaken by the vote, Somare adjourned the parliament for four months on Wednesday. The Speaker Jeffrey Nape adjourned the house until mid November despite the opposition's claim it had enough votes to stop the adjournment. Nape, an ally of Somare refused to count the “no” votes and called for the adjournment. The decision caused an uproar in the parliament with cries of “dictatorship”. This angered Somare so much he rose across the floor and pointed at Opposition member Sam Basil shouting “Bai mi kilim yu autsait” which translated meant “I will kill you outside”. Somare was restrained by his son Arthur.

With Michael Somare now 74 years old, many see Arthur as his logical groomed successor. The National editorialised that Arthur is the most senior MP from the Mamose (a region which covers Sepik, Madang and Morobe). The National said the son lives in the shadow of his famous father and won’t emerge till “the shadow moves on”. But the National also acknowledges this outcome would case “much disgruntlement, particularly from the Mamose faction that feels it is past time power were not centralised in the Sepik or with the Somare family.”

New Deputy Don Polye, meanwhile, draws his support from the Central Highlands in the province of Enga. It appears Polye reneged on a deal with long standing deputy Puka Temu for them to both walk out on Somare’s Government. Polye was rewarded with the deputy role, a role The Australian’s Asia-Pacific editor Rowan Callick believes will cement Somare in power till the 2012 election.

New Opposition leader Puka Temu is not so sure. This is the second time in two years Somare has adjourned parliament for several months to stop a no confidence vote and Temu has had enough. He is calling for Somare to quit now for the good of Papua New Guinea. "They call him the 'father of the nation' but he and his family are destroying the nation," he said. "They break laws, they treat parliament like a joke. Is this what PNG wants? No, they want an end to this." Temu said they would continue lobbying ministers and MPs who remain on the fence. "We have 45, all we need is 55," he said.

Drowning not Waving

Google picked a bad week to launch a product called Wave. Low-lying Pacific Islands, many of whom are facing elimination as the sea level rises, are recovering from massive natural damage this week. A massive 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck just a few kilometres offshore of Samoa on Wednesday. Those that died stood little chance of surviving three metre waves that arrived onshore just a few minutes later. More than 150 people died in Samoa, at least 31 in American Samoa and nine more died in Tonga. (photo by snarglebarf).

Of course it is not Google’s fault any of this happened. Nor was it the fault of Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald that they chose today to plug Samoa as a fancy-free tourist destination. Tourism is Samoa's largest industry, and one-quarter of the tourist accommodations had been destroyed. In fact the SMH may be helping the Samoan tourist board avoid a “second tsunami” as anecdotal reports arrive of mass cancellations. Google meanwhile is studiously avoiding the link between their name and the forces of nature. It prefers to issue sympathies to the lesser known but just as deadly Tropical Storm Ketsana (local name "Ondoy") which killed 300 people dead in Manila this week.

Their concern is admirable but Google’s Wave analogy needs a closer look. The name is based on surfing the web, but what if the Wave is too big? Will it wipe us out if we don’t catch it? Google is a massive company and we should no longer take their “don’t be evil” motto on face value. Its mission statement is to “organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.” But Wave gives a lot of power to what is already a $22 billion company as it seeks information from every stream.

A few weeks ago Google launched Fast Flip showed a newspaper way of browsing Internet content. Google Wave also takes its purpose from older technologies. Wave asks the question what would email look like if it was invented today. It also combines elements from instant messaging, wikis and social networks with the ability to share documents, maps, images and video.

Google have launched their latest beta version of Wave by invite-only, initially limited to 100,000 people (note: this writer was not among the 100,000). While the artificial limit sounds gimmicky and goes against the way Google usually operates, it does have a point. Wave is intended as a fully open communication and collaboration platform but is not quite ready for prime time yet.

Google Wave has the potential to gather a staggering amount of data to bring to every conversation, so there needs to be a viable stress and volume test. There may also be performance issues. The initial 100,000 users are mostly tech savvy early adopters who will do much to challenge the scalability of the project. Google say this is just the beginning and will soon be inviting many more to try it out “if all goes well”.

The ramifications are enormous if it does work. Although email is now often seen as a somewhat dated technology, it works because of its ability to get a consistent message out to a mass audience quickly. Email is still the dominant business communication tool, a position it has held since the 1990s so there is big commercial incentive for Google to get it right. Google’s mail system still lags well behind Yahoo Mail and Hotmail though is increasing faster than either of its older rivals. Wave may also work wonders for personal usage of GMail.

Brisbane law professor and early adopter Peter Black gives Google Wave a tick of approval though he has reservations. Black missed out on a direct invite from Google but used his social network to get one. After 24 hours of testing, he says Wave is an “amazing tool”. Black likes the way it allows conversation to evolve (and re-play if necessary) and says it is intuitive. On the down side, it was difficult to get a true picture of its worth as Black had very people to collaborate with so far. He also says its level of difficulty may give it limited appeal and it could get “quite noisy” with emails, instant messages, SMSes, Twitter and Facebook updates all in the one space. Google will have to work hard to ensure the sound of its message doesn’t drown out the waving.

Brave Niue World: Pacific Islands Forum opens

The Honourable Toke Tufukia Talagi MP, Prime Minister of Niue, formally opened the 39th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders on Tuesday. Talagi takes on the chair of the forum for the next four years taking over from Tongan Prime Minister Feleti Sevele. The Niuean PM named climate change as the most pressing concern for the forum. “The challenges for the region is no longer a matter for research or scientific theory and modelling,” he said. “The evidence is quite clear that climate change is already wreaking havoc here.”

Talagi was referring to 2004’s Cyclone Heta which devastated the capital Alofi. Although one person died, he said if that cyclone had struck one of the lower-lying islands in the Pacific, “a human disaster might surely have eventuated”. Talagi said the PIF shouldn't wait until a worse human catastrophe occurs before acting. He said the current international attention on climate change presents an opportunity for the region “to negotiate and secure tangible assistance for people already affected by climate change."

15 of the PIFs heads of government attended the summit. Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama was the odd man out. He announced two days ago he was boycotting the forum to concentrate on “political issues at home”. The PIF expressed concern at Fiji’s absence and condemned Bainimarama’s recent statement delaying free elections beyond 2010. Australian PM and regional Big Brother Kevin Rudd believes Bainimarama has made a “grave error” by not attending. “If there is a mood across this Pacific Island Forum,” he said, “it's that Bainimarama has gone not just one step too far but many steps to far.

The forum is a rare moment in the spotlight for the small coral island 2,400 km north-east of New Zealand and 350km west of Tonga. Niue (pronounced “neeooway,” with a strong accent on the “way.”) means “behold the coconut”. It has a population of just over 1,000 which has been in decline for over 40 years. Polynesians lived on the island for many centuries before Captain Cook sailed by in 1774 denoting it “Savage Island” for its unfriendly welcome. British missionaries first arrived in the 1830s and in 1887 King Fata-a-iki bowed to the inevitable and ceded control of the island to London.

New Zealand then gained the island as a reward for its contribution to the Boer War. Since 1974 Niue has been independent "in free association" with Wellington. This means it has its own government but New Zealand is responsible for its foreign affairs. All Niuean are entitled to NZ citizenship and the “country” is reliant on NZ aid to survive. The PIF was a first hand opportunity for NZ prime minister Helen Clark to see how Niue is using a $20 million aid package to help the island recover from the 2004 cyclone.

Such oversight is necessary as Niue has a shady reputation for finance appropriation. In 2000 the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) named the island as one of 35 tax havens three days after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Niue on a money laundering blacklist. In 2002, FATF took Niue off the blacklist after the administration made “significant progress made by the jurisdiction in improving its anti-money laundering systems”.

But the continued financial due diligence may be beyond the diminished resources of this tiny island. The island's isolation and lack of industry makes it heavily dependent on New Zealand aid. The official population of 1,400 may go down further if the island holds firm on its promise to become the world’s first smoke-free jurisdiction. The island’s 250 smokers are likely to join the 20,000 Niueans already in New Zealand. With so little human capital left, Niue relies on the generosity of Wellington to survive.

Hope for future success depends on the new economy and Niue’s top level domain name “.nu”. Just as Tuvalu cashed in on its media friendly “.tv” name, Niue is relying on the fact that “nu” means “now” in Dutch and the Scandinavian languages. The island receives just 25 percent of the profits from its domain registry. But even there, Niue claims it has been cheated out of the .nu revenues by an American carpetbagger with whom they shared the rights. Talagi’s predecessor as Premier, Young Vivian, complained bitterly about the deal. "The key issue is that reasonable benefits should come to Niue," he says. "That is the goal of any leader."

Tuvalu wavering not drowning

A New Zealand academic has disputed recent reports that the Pacific island of Tuvalu is sinking under the sea. Writing in the NZ Herald, Chris de Freitas, an associate professor in the School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Science at the University of Auckland, says that there has been no discernible evidence that sea levels have risen on the main island of Funafuti and what inundation has occurred in other islands is due to erosion caused by industrial activity not global warming. De Freitas also cites other factors such as the paving over of one quarter of Funafuti’s land mass which has increased rainwater runoff causing flooding.

De Freitas also quotes a growing body of research that says that global warming will cause sea levels, which have been rising since the end of the last ice age, to either stabilise or possibly even fall. Some scientists believe there is an inverse relationship between global temperatures and sea levels, due to sea surface evaporation that transports moisture to the polar ice caps.

Dr. John Bratton of the US Geological Survey argues that global warming could cause sea level to fall for another reason. He believes the temperature rise would cause the melting of sea-floor crystals of ice (known as clathrates) which enclose gases such as methane. When these crystals melt, the gas escapes leaving a hole that could cause sea levels to fall by as much as 25 meters. Bratton estimates that sea level will fall by about 1.5 meters due to this phenomenon.

Nevertheless Tuvalu remains on the frontline of climate change. Since as far back as 1992, its government has been speaking out in international forums about the impacts of global warming. More common flooding due to storm surges has increased the salinity of the soil which in turn is forcing farmers to grow their root crops in metal buckets instead of in the ground. Tuvalu’s government have had little success in getting their big international neighbours to change their ways. “The oil industry is powerful” said local politician Paani Laupepa. “It works in sinister ways to maintain its grip on the politicians”.

Historically Tuvalu was southern Ellis part of the Gilbert and Ellis islands but opted for separation (from what is now Kiribati) and then independence in 1978. The name Tuvalu means “eight standing together” and refers to the number of populated islands in the chain. It relies on international aid (which has been put into a trust fund) and the US, Taiwan and Japan also pay lucrative amounts for fishing rights. In 1998 Tuvalu sold 80 percent of the rights to the “tv” internet domain to a Californian company for $48 million. Tuvalu still makes $3 million a year from the remaining 20 percent share with internet registrations rising by almost half in the last two years.

Tuvalu is a chain of nine islands with a population of roughly 11,000 making it the smallest voting member of the UN. The islands are mostly two to three metres above sea level and its coral atoll villages already flood at high tide. In the IPCC fourth assessment report released last year gave a range of possible sea level rises up to a metre by 2099 so most of the islands seem safe enough in the short term.

Citizens of Tuvalu are among seven million Pacific Islanders who are most at risk. Although Pacific nations contribute just one percent to global greenhouse pollution they suffer the worst of the extreme weather events and other climate change impacts. When air temperatures rise, the oceans heat up and cyclones become more frequent and severe. Changes are causing many to leave to Australia and New Zealand and these people have been called “climate refugees”.

Now a Japanese activist and journalist Shuichi Endo has set himself the task of photographing the entire population of Tuvalu (10,000 people) in order to draw political attention to the threat they face from global warming. Endo said the islanders live in tune with their environment and the rest of the world could learn a lot from them. "If industrialised countries like Japan and the United States don't cut their greenhouse gas emissions, the Tuvaluans won't be able to carry on living here," Endo said. "Their culture will be lost, the Tuvaluans will no longer exist."

Fiji military declares war on bloggers

The Fijian military has told students at the University of the South Pacific that if they are responsible for contributing to anti-Government blogs, their Fijian Affairs Board scholarships will be terminated. Land force commander, Colonel Pita Driti warned the students they would be tracked down and several were taken in for questioning earlier this week. The move is the latest salvo in the war between Fiji’s unelected government and the country’s bloggers. Most of these sites have sprung up since last December’s military coup that took Frank Bainimarama into power.

Fiji International Telecommunications Limited (FINTEL) is the only provider of internet technology in the country. Last month a FINTEL spokesman confirmed the interim administration asked them to shut off access to the offending blogs. The government had asked for access be cut off for "national security" reasons.

A senior administration officer of the Public Service Commission has also been questioned by army officers in relation to anti-army and anti-regime blogs. Sites including Intelligentsiya, Why Fiji is Crying, and Discombobulated Bubu have broken stories that have embarrassed the interim government since the coup.

The mainstream media has also suffered censorship in the wake of the new regime. In December last year, the country’s largest newspaper the Fiji Times was forced to temporarily suspend publication after the military ordered the paper not to publish any "propaganda" against the new political leadership. The military raided the papers offices and shut it down saying it would not tolerate it publishing any views that opposed those of the Army.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power in Fiji in December last year. For months prior to the coup, he had threatened to throw Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase from office over what he called government corruption and controversial proposed laws that planned to give amnesty to the failed 2000 coup plotters. When Bainimarama finally did take over in a bloodless coup, he claimed the takeover would be temporary, and that a caretaker government would be installed and fresh elections held.

But having established himself as Prime Minister in January this year, Bainimarama has changed his tune about the freshness of the elections. In February he set out a “roadmap” that would lead to elections in 2010. He claimed the long lead-up time was needed to restore Fiji's poorly performing economy and reflected the military's "aspiration'' to remove corruption from government.

His announcement came just a day after the 16-nations Pacific Islands' Forum Eminent Persons’ Group Report (pdf) called for elections in 18 months to two years to restore democracy. That report did not comment on the legality of the coup, which it said was a matter for the Fijian courts to resolve but expressed concern that Bainimarama had linked the election timetable to the anti-corruption drive. The report also condemned the ongoing state of emergency which it said was a major obstacle to the return of normality.

The coup was Fiji’s fourth coup in twenty years. All are related to tensions between ethnic Indians and native Fijians. The first two coups occurred in 1987. In May that year, Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka led armed soldiers into parliament and seized power from Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, head of a recently-elected multi-racial coalition government. Rabuka’s aim was to restore power to indigenous Fijians. Unhappy with political progress from the subsequent negotiations, Rabuka staged a second coup in September. He declared Fiji a republic with himself as its leader, and withdrew from the Commonwealth.

Rabuka held on to power for another 12 years. In 1999 Mahendra Chaudhry came to power on another multi-racial ticket. A year later his government and Fiji’s economy was wrecked when businessman George Speight launched another coup. His support was boosted by claims that ethnic Indians were plotting to seize indigenous-owned land. Speight led a gang who stormed the government buildings and kidnapped 36 government officials including Chaudhry. They held them captive for two months. While the siege continued, President Ratu Mara sacked the government for being “unable to exercise their duties”. Commodore Bainimarama then stepped in and announced on radio and television that he had taken over the government. He signed an accord with Speight to end the hostage crisis and release the prisoners. Speight was arrested shortly afterwards.

Bainimarama handed back power to civilians and appointed Qarase as the new prime minister. Although the Fijian High Court would later declare the interim government as illegal, Chaudhry would never return as leader. However since the 2006 coup he is now back in favour. Bainimarama appointed him interim Finance, Sugar Reform and National Planning Minister in the military-backed interim administration.

However evidence of abuse of freedom of speech is mounting since the coup. Reporters Without Borders gave several examples of censorship in the direct aftermath of Bainimarama’s latest takeover. They include the arrest and deportation of editor-in-chief of the Fiji Daily Post, Australian national Robert Wolfgramm and the threatening of the Post’s reporter Jyoti Pratibha’s family. The army has also questioned businessman Imraz Iqbal and trade unionist Kenneth Zinck who both made critical comments of the regime. At least two people who write regularly to the letters editor of the Fiji Times have also received threats.

Reporters Without Borders have now condemned the decision of military authorities in Fiji to block access to blogs. The group issued a press release stating it objected to the misuse of "national security" argument to increase Internet control. "This is an unprecedented step in Fiji. In a country where the press is regularly threatened by the authorities, the new policy of filtering the Net is worrying," it said. However Tony Yianni of the Fiji Times remains undaunted by the government’s heavy-handedness. "I think the military needs to remember an age-old truism in a battle between guns and pens, pens always win,” he said.

Fiji on verge of another coup

It’s almost coup o’clock in Fiji. The leader of Fiji’s armed forces, Commodore Frank Bainimarama called up a thousand army reservists on the weekend. He also warned Australia against intervention and called for Australian Andrew Hughes to be sacked as Fiji's police commissioner. Bainimarama has form as the organiser of the counter-coup that ousted George Speight in 2000. Fiji has had three coups in the last two decades.

The Australian government will now host an emergency summit of Pacific Island foreign ministers on Friday 1 December to discuss the risk of another military coup in Fiji. The meeting was called under the forum's Biketawa Declaration under which member nations can request assistance to deal with threats to security. Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said he is very concerned that Bainimarama will undertake a coup when he returns from New Zealand, where he is attending a granddaughter's christening.

In May 2000 a gang led by George Speight stormed the parliamentary buildings and kidnapped then Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and other senior members of the government. The aim was to depose the first ethnic Indian prime minister in favour of indigenous Fijians. Fiji's ethnic Indians make up around 40% of the 900,000 population. Speight anointed himself as Prime Minister but never succeeded in wresting control outside the building. Bainimarama led the army negotiators and hammered out an agreement to release Chaudhry. But as soon as he was released, Bainimarama repudiated the deal, stormed the building and arrested Speight and his co-conspirators.

Voreqe Bainimarama, more popularly known as Frank, moved to impose martial law after days of chaos in 2000 following the racially-motivated coup by businessman George Speight. Speight is now serving life for treason. A former naval commander, Bainimarama was appointed head of an interim military government for three months until a new president was appointed. He was also instrumental in bringing in current Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase - a move he says he has since come to regret.

Bainimarama has been the power behind the scenes ever since. He has repeatedly entered the political arena to criticise government policy especially its leniency towards those responsible for the coup. He was a strong critic of the Reconciliation and Unity Commission to depose the first ethnic Indian prime minister in favour of indigenous Fijians. Fiji's ethnic Indians make up around 40% of the 900,000 population but have been oppressed since the events of 2000. The Reconciliation and Unity Commission wasset up in 2004 and planned to compensate victims but also give amnesties to coup plotters.

The Commission is the brainchild of incumbent Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. Like the coup plotters, Qarase strongly favours a pro-Indigenous Fijian policy. The proposal generated a storm of protests from opposition politicians, many of whom were victims of the coup. Bainimarama joined the Indian opposition in condemning the commission. He issued a statement in July 2005 warning the government was heading towards the same anarchy as 2000. He also said the military would act against “destabilisers” issuing a warning, “the military will dish out the same fate we dealt George Speight and his group to anyone whom we think deserves this treatment."

Australian Andrew Hughes was initially an ally of Bainimarama but has now fallen foul of him. Hughes was appointed police commissioner in the wake of the 2000 coup succeeding local-born Isikia Savua who was implicated in the coup. The Fijian constitution allows for a foreigner to lead the police force and Hughes was recruited from the Australian Federal Police as an impartial figure to lead the post-coup investigations. However Hughes’s vigorous pursuit of suspects saw him clash with government ministers especially Home Affairs minister Josefa Vosanibola over the coup amnesty plans. Vosanibola has also clashed with Bainimarama and declared him a threat to Fiji’s stability.

Hughes meanwhile has claimed Bainimarama was a front for a highly organised group trying to undermine the Government. He told the ABC on Friday “they operate in the shadows, under anonymity, manipulate and so on, and then they get off, scot-free”. Hughes’s term is due to expire in 2007 and he has the support of Qarase to continue. The prime minister said “looking at our recent past it may be best for Fiji to continue with an expatriate Police Commissioner." It remains to be seen whether Qarase will retain the power to make the decision.

Tonga grapples with democracy and the death of a king

About a third of the way between New Zealand and Hawaii lies the multi-island nation of Tonga. The word means ‘south’ in Tongan. Captain Cook called them the Friendly Islands because he arrived during the ʻinasi festival, the yearly donation of the first fruits to the Tuʻi Tonga. The Tu’i Tonga was the royal lineage - a dynasty which lasted 800 years until abolished in the mid 1800s. The new King of Tonga was established in 1875 and since that time there have been only four monarchs. Yesterday, the fourth of these, Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, died aged 88 in a hospital in Auckland. His death came at the end of a long, unspecified illness. His body will be flown to Tonga tomorrow. Preparations in the capital Nuku'alofa are under way for his funeral next Monday, with black and purple cloth being draped on buildings as a mark of respect. The mourning period is expected to last for many months.

His 57-year old-son Crown Prince Tupouto'a was sworn in immediately as the fifth monarch with the name of King George Tupou V. It was announced by proclamation of the Tongan government. In keeping with Tongan tradition, his coronation will be delayed until 2007. Tonga has a population roughly in excess of 100,000 scattered among 170 coral islands and achieved its independence from Britain in 1970. The earliest humans there came from South East Asia 2,800 years ago. They were known as the “Lapita” people for their pottery and they lived and traded in Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji for a thousand years. The Tongans were at the height of their powers in the 12th century.

The Dutch navigators Willem Cornelisz Schouten and Jacob le Maire sailed by the northern islands in 1616. The rest of the archipelago was visited by Abel Tasman in 1643 during the voyage of discovery that also mapped Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji. Cook visited the islands twice (1773 and 1777) in his second and final antipodean journeys. English missionaries arrived in 1797 and laid the foundations for British political influence. Internal wars in the early 1800s ended with the accession of King George Tupou I who unified Tonga and gave it a constitution (1862), a legal code, and an administrative system. His successor, King George Tupou II (1893–1918) concluded a treaty making Tonga a British protectorate in 1900. Tonga remained self-governing, with the British responsible for foreign affairs and defence. A new treaty in 1968 reduced British control, and Tonga became completely independent on 4 June, 1970.

The end of Tupou IV's reign is likely to aid the push for more democracy in the near-feudal kingdom, where the royal family has ruled with absolute power. Like many Tongans he suffered from obesity for most of his adult life. By 1976 he was listed in the Guinness book of Records as the world’s heaviest monarch at 210 kilos on the Tongan airport scales (the only ones in the country capable of weighing him). When he visited Germany, the German government would commission special chairs to support his weight. The King would take the chairs home, considering them as state presents. However by the 1990s he was a shadow of his former himself. He lost 70 kilos and led his people on a diet and exercise regime in a nation where coconut flesh and mutton flaps are the main staples.

Corruption within the royal family and government remains a problem. In 2001 the country lost $26 million in government funds (40% of its annual revenue) as a result of investment in a Nevada asset management company. Tonga made the money by selling citizenships to Hong Kong Chinese. The King appointed American businessman, Jesse Bogdonoff to manage the money and also made him his court jester. The jester had the last laugh as he and the $26 million disappeared. In 2004, Bogdonoff agreed to pay Tonga a $1 million settlement. A pro-democracy movement rose against the King as he became increasingly autocratic. In May 2005, 10,000 people – one tenth of the population - rallied for constitutional reform. Three months later, 3,000 civil servants went on strike, demanding better pay. This year, pro-democracy leader Fred Sevele became the first elected commoner to serve as the country's prime minister. King George Tupou V will need to show some of his father’s charisma and resilience as well as more humble qualities his father did not have if Tonga is to emerge from its crises with its reputation and finances intact.

Lacking wisdom in the Solomons

Today, Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare announced he was replacing his Attorney-General with a controversial Australian lawyer. Many critics fear his move is aimed at releasing two powerful leaders charged over the riots which destroyed the capital Honiara in April. Sogavare told the SMH he had lost trust in the Attorney-General Primo Afeau, after a dispute between the two spilled into a local newspaper. He said he was considering replacing Afeau, who has held the job under four governments, with an Australian lawyer Julian Moti. Moti, an adjunct professor of law at Bond University on the Gold Coast, is a QC in the small Honiara legal set. The Solomons Bar Association has warned against appointing him. Moti was deported in 1994 after giving advice to a governor-general who tried to sack a government which attempted to put controls the country’s Malaysian-dominated logging industry.

Sogavare’s sacking of his Attorney-General is related to Afeau’s support of the public debate on his High Court challenge of the Terms of Reference of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the April riot. Afeau has challenged the two Terms of Reference that touched on the two detained Honiara MPs, Charles Dausabea and Nelson Ne’e, saying he was acting in the public interest. Sogavare countered by saying the government viewed it was in the public interest the COI was established, adding that the fundamental question raised by the April civil unrest was why people reacted and behaved the way they did. However it would appear Sogavare would prefer if the COI did not consider the behaviour of Dausabea and Ne’e. Dausabea is his police minister and Ne’e is his minister for tourism. Both MPs were charged by the Islands' Australian director of public prosecutions John Cauchi with inciting the April rioting in Honiara.

The Solomon Islands achieved self-governance around the same time as neighbour PNG and was granted full independence in 1980. But although the newly-fledged country struggled economically, it was not until the 1997 election of Bartholomew Ulufa'alu as Prime Minister did the Solomons take a serious turn for the worse. Ethnic rivalries plagued the police force and other government agencies. In June 2000 Ulufa'alu was kidnapped by militia members from the island of Malaita (whose migrants form a significant population of the capital Honiara) protesting the government, and he resigned his post in exchange for release. Manasseh Sogavare, leader of the People's Progressive Party, was chosen Prime Minister by a loose coalition of parties. Militants retaliated and sought to drive Malaitan settlers from Guadalcanal, resulting in the closure of a large oil-palm estate and gold mine vital to exports. Two rival armed ethnic factions, the Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM) and the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) crippled the country in a wave of violence from 1999 to 2003. The Isatubus of Guadalcanal began to force Malaitans out, accusing them of taking land and jobs. Around 20,000 people abandoned their homes, with many subsequently leaving Guadalcanal.

As a result of the ethnic tensions, the Australian government acted with other Pacific nations to send an armed force into the Solomons. The force was called Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Fourteen countries have contributed forces to RAMSI: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Marshall Islands. It currently includes around 250-300 police officers (the Participating Police Force), 120 civilians and a contingent of military personnel working across all of Solomons provinces. Its mandate is to create “a safer Solomons” by restoring security, maintaining law and order and rebuilding the local police force. It is also rebuilding the public service and working to achieve electoral reform and public education about government. Its final goal is in the area of government finance, aiming to stabilise spending and manage debt repayments.

RAMSI has been a qualified success. It largely restored law and order, removed many weapons from the streets, and got the government machinery moving again. However its credibility was severely tested by the riots in April 2006. The riots occurred after newly elected Prime Minister Snyder Rini was alleged to have used bribes from Chinese businessmen to buy the votes of members of Parliament. This unleashed deep underlying resentment against the minority Chinese business community and led to a 2 day mass riot and the destruction of Honiara’s Chinatown. RAMSI officers were overwhelmed and over 30 were injured in the violence. In response, Australia, NZ and Fiji dispatched extra police and defence personnel to the capital. On 26 April, Rini resigned before facing a motion of no confidence in Parliament. The news caused celebrations in the streets of Honiara. His successor, Manasseh Sogavare, took office on 4 May. It is Sogavare’s second term in office having served as PM for 18 months between the middle of 2000 and the end of 2001. Sogavare controversially appointed the two MPs facing trial as government ministers. Corruption remains endemic throughout the islands while prosperity is elusive. The three year civil war left the country almost bankrupt, and the April riots quashed some of the advances made since 2003. Similar to its fellow Melanesian neighbours PNG, Timor Leste and Papua, the future remains uncertain for the Solomons.