Clark positive about Tonga's future

NUKU'ALOFA - Prime Minister Helen Clark, who attended the state funeral of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV in Nuku'alofa yesterday, took a positive view about Tonga's future despite political tensions in the country.

The king was buried at the Mala'e Kula royal tombs 10 days after his death in Auckland at the age of 88.

The latter part of his 41-year reign had seen increasing calls for constitutional reform to move Tonga on from a semi-feudal society in which only nine of 30 parliamentary seats are popularly elected by commoners.

Miss Clark said King Tupou IV had made some important changes before his death and these would pave the way for a more meritocratic society.

They included the appointment this year of Feleti Sevele as the first commoner to be prime minister.

When people came into jobs on their ability, Miss Clark told journalists, "the whole constitutional reform process gets quite a head of steam, so I'm quite optimistic about Tonga's future."

She described the past year or so, which included a civil servants' strike that paralysed Tonga, as having been extraordinary difficult for the Pacific island nation.

"There's been enormous division in Tonga and I think there's an opportunity to move ahead," she said.

"There's a new prime minister. There's a will for change, I believe, and we will support that however we can."

The six-week strike ended early last September with civil servants winning pay increases of between 60 and 80 per cent and the government facing the problem of how to fund the settlement.

"That's led to a lot of pain in restructuring of the economy," Miss Clark said, citing the loss of 170 teaching jobs as one example.

"There's work to do here and let's hope there an open enough process for that to happen."

King Tupou IV has been succeeded by his eldest son, who has become King George Tupou V.

Miss Clark believed the new monarch, 58, was likely to stand back and allow Dr Seveli and the government deal with the issues facing Tonga.

New Zealand was one of almost 40 countries represented at the funeral and Miss Clark and Governor-General Anand Satyanand led the delegation, flying in to Tonga yesterday morning and leaving last night.

Both laid wreaths during a 3-1/2-hour service conducted almost entirely in Tongan and made up of prayers, Bible readings and hymns.

Before the start of the service, the late king's body, which had lain in state at his seaside palace, was taken to the burial site in a so lemn and impressive procession involving 1000 pallbearers.

The pallbearers took it in turns in groups of about 200 to carry the giant platform on which the casket rested below a black and gold canopy.

During their kilometre-long journey, the road they went through was flanked on both sides by schoolgirls from Queen Salote College.

The 1000 or so girls , whose school is named after the late king's mother, were seated on the ground and dressed in their uniform of blue pinafore and white blouse.

A crowd estimated at between 15,000 to 20,000 assembled in the grassed area around the tombs for the service.

About 3000 of the mourners were thought to have come from overseas, and more than 1000 of them from New Zealand.

All were dressed in black and most in the traditional ta'ovala woven mats, and they took advantage of the shade provided by marquees that were set up.

Miss Clark said the memory she would take away from the occasion was the quiet respect shown by the mourners.

"It was both elaborate and simple, very dignified," she said.

"The memory I go away with was how quiet it was very, very quiet, incredibly well-behaved children, respectful adults. It was a beautiful ceremony."

- NZPA