01st March 2018 TONGAN The Hon Prime Minister, Hon Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva, this afternoon stated that he did not accept Hon. Mateni Tapueluelu’s resignation from Cabinet as Minister for Police and Fire Services and Minister for Revenue and Customs.
The Hon Prime Minister said, “Although I sympathise with the underlying reasons for Mateni Tapueluelu’s resignation from Cabinet I do not accept it. Instead I will, to the best of my ability, continue to dialogue with him as well as other Members of Cabinet in the hope that we can come to a common understanding on how best to resolve the issues that are behind his resignation”.
The Hon Prime Minister also stated that Hon. Mateni Tapueluelu had been particularly frustrated of late by what could be interpreted as lack of support from his Cabinet colleagues on the way forward that he was proposing regarding corruption within Tonga Police and his relative lack of statutory authority within the Ministry of Police in contrast to that of the Commissioner of Police.
The Hon Prime Minister also said that in recent meetings of the Cabinet, Hon. Mateni Tapueluelu had tabled submissions regarding corruption within Tonga Police with specific recommendations on what Cabinet should do regarding senior members of Tonga Police including the Police Commissioner and certain Deputy – Police Commissioners and each time Cabinet decided to defer making decisions on those recommendations.
“So I can feel his frustration that after having unsuccessfully done all that he can to address corruption internally within Tonga Police, his attempts to seek the support of his Cabinet colleagues for the way forward had not been met with enthusiasm”, the Hon Prime Minister said.
“But that is not the end of the road. I will do my best, as I stated earlier, to continue the dialogue with Mateni and the rest of Cabinet to ensure that we address his concerns and retain his membership of Cabinet,” the Hon Prime Minister concluded.
ENDS
Issued by the: The Prime Minister’s Office, P.O. Box 62, Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Tel: (676) 24 644 Fax: (676) 23 888; For media enquiries- Email: pressoffice@pmo.gov.to Website: www.pmo.gov.to