Kurt Bassuener August 2nd, 2008

King George Tupou V was crowned on Friday in the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa to succeed his father, who died two years ago. His coronation drew 1000 guests, including the Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito, and the New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark. The ceremony, including 21-gun salute, a lavish banquet, and fireworks, cost $2.5 million. This in a country of 100,000, where one quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. The UN’s Human Development Report ranks Tonga at 55 – so near the upper quartile if all the world’s countries are ranked – and notes some impressive figures for the country – high literacy, clean water, middle income, and life expectancy at birth of nearly 73 years. Yet even given these achievements, $2.5 million is a lot of money for a society so small with such a significant population in poverty.

The biggest issue with the coronation is that the king will not be a mere figurehead, but a ruler. Freedom House rates the country as “partly free,” with political rights heavily circumscribed. Tonga’s system of governance concentrates power in the hands of the king and nobles, who appoint the government. King Tupou committed to reforms to submit most of parliament to direct elections following riots in 2006 sparked by a perceived effort to close parliament without amendments to allow for more directly elected MP seats. These riots targeted Chinese-run businesses and destroyed much of the capital center. Australian and New Zealand forces had to be deployed to restore order. King Tupou V promised more democracy in the aftermath of the violence. About half of the 700 arrested reported physical abuse by security forces.

In elections earlier this year, all 9 of the 33 parliamentary seats open to direct election (nine are selected by nobles and 15 by the king himself) were won by pro-democracy candidates. Six of these candidates were charged with sedition for initiating the riots. The king has said the 2010 elections will allow full democratic participation. This, of course, remains to be seen. Democracies like New Zealand sent representatives to King Tupou V’s superfluous coronation ceremony (he had been acting as king for two years), and PM Clark noted rather mildly before departing for the coronation that Tonga was preparing to give “more power” to elected representatives in time for the 2010 elections, and offered help in the Tongan democratization process. That sort of help is on order – democracies should help in these processes. But it seems the biggest problem here, as is often the case, is one of will. One hopes Tonga’s democratic neighbors (though none are “close” in the vastness of the Pacific), particularly New Zealand and Australia, press the king to open up the political system, and for him and Tongan nobles to step back from political management.

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