Tongan election campaign - no love lost

The liveliest exchanges of the Tongan election campaign are in a high-profile slanging match between the heir to the Tongan throne and sacked MP Clive Edwards. Crown Prince Tupouto'a Tupou V, who often signs off simply as HRH, engaged in a war of words in the respected news magazine Matangi Tonga's online site.

The colourful language has included "beached whales", "rotten eggs" and "ugly dictatorships".

The first shots were fired in in December, when HRH responded to a public outcry over high power costs. Edwards, 69, leaped into the debate, accusing HRH of lacking any sensible explanation.

The editor, Pesi Fonua, ran two lengthy interviews with Edwards, who claimed he had been accused of plotting a coup and leading rebel ministers.

HRH, 57, denied this and fired back that Edwards had a personal vendetta against the Taimi 'o Tonga newspaper and broke a convention of keeping private Privy Council discussions.

"Floundering about like a beached whale looking for someone to blame for his public disgrace instead of glancing in the mirror is, provided he can tell the difference any more, degrading."

HRH described Edwards as ungentlemanly and of low breeding, blaming him for anti-media laws. He said Edwards was not capable of plotting a coup because it required "diligence, brains and a high order of organisational skills".

Edwards retorted that he came from "a poor and humble family" for which he made no apology, and suggested the unwritten rule of silence adopted by ministers dismissed from their positions was maintained through fear of repercussions.

"In its true form one can only describe it as an ugly hallmark of dictatorship."

HRH noted that as the Government had got rid of "our rotten eggs" there should be no need to ask any more cabinet ministers to leave. Edwards simply referred to HRH as confused.

All of this is a turnaround from when Edwards was the frontman for the Tongan Government, even acting Prime Minister at times.

Fonua said Edwards' overpowering influence led some to refer to him as the real leader of the cabinet, and he was regarded by many as the most bull-headed man in the Tongan parliament.

"Ruthlessly defending and implementing the King's and the Royal Family's wishes, and employing his Special Branch police to spy on the community to isolate dissent, few would doubt he has been a formidable opponent of Tonga's pro-democracy campaigners since he was appointed by the King as a minister in 1996."

Edwards' eight years in Government covered its most controversial period but he now thinks he stands a chance at winning over enough Tongan voters to gain a seat in Parliament.

In yet another letter, Edwards said he wanted Tonga's governing system of "puppet ministers" to change.

In an interview with Radio Australia, Edwards said his ministerial role became increasingly problematic, starting with the compulsory acquisition of the power assets by his colleagues, which took away a resource without proper payment.

Edwards fought against such things but that was never made public and he took the blame.

He laughed at suggestions things were getting a little to personal on the Matangi Tonga website. "It takes two beached whales to tango, not one."

Edwards denied fighting the pro-democracy movement and said the Tongan Government was drifting headless without direction.

He hoped the monarchy would be retained in Tonga but warned if people reached breaking point "you can't predict what might happen."