FEATURE: Tonga's fresh challenges

New issues await Tonga after the royal mourning, like paying for a loan from China and seeking to ensure political reforms remain in place.

Campbell Cooney, Pacific correspondent, Nuku'alofa

Last Updated: Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:20:00 +1100

In the kingdom of Tonga, the late King George Tupou V continues to be commemorated and remembered.

The king was laid to rest in the royal tomb in an elaborate ceremony attended by dignitaries from around the world.

The royal funeral may be over, but the sense of remembrance and respect for the late monarch and his close family has not stopped.

One group of mourners gathered at the home of his sister, Princess Pilolevu, to pay tribute to her and recognise her loss.

Plates of food

Stacked deep on her verandah are plates of food. Lying on the ground nearby a full pig, ready for roasting.

Similar tributes took place elsewhere.

One of the chief mourners, Tongan noble and cabinet minister Lord Vaea, said most tributes went to female members of the family.

He told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat: "This is our presentation, our tribute in times of anguish for the Queen Mother and of course the Princess Royal . . . "

The paying of tributes will continue to the end of the official period of mourning, on Sunday, although others will come even beyond that.

All levels of Tongan society take part.

The tributes are not just for the king who died.

The throne is now held by his younger brother, who has taken the title King Tupou VI. Tonga's leading politicians, and civil servants will travel to his residence to pay tribute, in food and cash.

But the arrival of a new monarch in Tonga means much more than a change of head of state in many other countries.

The late King George gained the respect of his people for giving up much of his control of government and allowing democratic elections.

Grass mat

But he did not completely give up his influence on political power.

For the funeral, the dress code required no sunglasses, hats or flashy jewellery. For men, suitable clothes were a black western-style suit, or the local dress of a black shirt combined with the Tongan tupenu, the male skirt common in many Pacific nations.

Worn over the top of that, the ta'ovalu, a woven grass mat wrapped around the waist with rope; and then the aveave. Let us just say, more grass, in the style of a skirt, worn around the hips.

In the tropics of Tonga, the combination of black clothing and quite a few kilograms of grass matting, as well as the fact that drinking water within the venues was not allowed, made for some stress. But while we may have felt uncomfortable and self-conscious, wearing it seemed to be appreciated by the locals.

What we got to witness was something quite impressive. Tonga's royal family, especially their reigning monarchs, hold a special place in the heart of the people of the island kingdom.

It has been a long time since a king or queen was seen as a divine being, but they are loved as a leader. Until just two years ago the monarch was the absolute ruler, with control over all legislation and laws, not to mention control of the country's coffers.

In 2010 the late King George kept the promise he had made years before, to give up much of that power and allow the democratic election of a government, for the people, by the people, not just a government which he appointed and which held office at his pleasure.

London taxi

For Tongans, that one action meant many feel this king was special. Around the world the man the man locals call, with great affection, G Five, was best known for his upper-class affectations and his highly elaborate military outfits, which seemed to owe more to Gilbert and Sullivan than practicality. Also there was his preference for being driven around the capital in a transplanted London cab - a mode of transport he once defended as being perfect for getting in and out of while carrying a sword, and wearing spurs.

But for Tongans, this was just part of the man they knew. They say he was aware that Tonga needed more than custom and tradition to survive in the modern world, and that it was the people of the kingdom, not the king, who had to set that destiny, and they feel indebted to him for allowing that to happen. His reign may have only been for six years, but for Tongans it was a memorable one.

While King George Tupou V may have been a man of the future, the royal funeral and the days leading up to it and following it owe plenty to Tongan custom, combined with traditional Christianity.

It took more than two hours from when his body left Tonga's international airport to travel the 20 kilometres to the royal palace, with schoolchildren from across the country lining the road. From the moment the procession reached the palace, prayer vigils started and church choirs began singing. That lasted through the night, with many of those standing vigil lighting bark fires around the outside of the grounds. Staying a kilometre from the palace, I went to sleep to the sound of choirs and woke up to them the next day.

On Tuesday the funeral procession from the palace, 300 metres to the royal tombs, involved 1,000 pallbearers, the royal family, the military and the combined army and police brass band. While the prayers and hymns may have been Christian, once they were completed it was the role of the royal undertakers, the Nimatapu, or Sacred Hands, to lay the king to rest, and seal his vault.

For 10 days after the funeral they stand vigil. Then come the tributes to the family, and the new king receives tributes from government, civil servants, the military and the villages around the island nation. Tributes can be money, but also food. The most prized offering is a pig or a cow. As I was leaving the grounds of the new king's residence, an army truck turned up towing a trailer with a dairy cow on it, as part of its offering.

Optimism

But Tongans are keen to see what sort of monarch King Tupou VI will be. If you ask anyone in politics about the new king they are optimistic. In a conservative country like this you will not see the sort of media scrutiny of the royal family you may elsewhere. But Tonga is a small country and it only takes a conversation with any local to get at least some insight into what is happening with the royals. Everyone knows everyone.

King Tupou VI previously served as Tonga's Prime Minister, and he is described as a very different man to his brother. Many here are watching and waiting to see what influence he may want, or even want to relinquish.

Tongan MP Akilisi Pohivi spent years advocating, and campaigning for, democratic rule. He praised the former king for allowing that to happen, as he described it, in part, in 2010.

While he stopped to mourn the death, he does not appear to share some concern, expressed privately to me more than once, that the new King Tupou will try to roll back some of that hard-won democracy.

When much of Tongan life, including its politics, returns to normal business, that business includes finding a way to pay for a loan of around $50 million from China, which as it has been pointed out, is still due to be repayed, no matter which king is in power. Around Nuku'alofa you can see that money being put to use, with new roads and new buildings. But the bill is soon due, and Tonga�s government has pretty well admitted it does not have the money to pay it.

The problem is Tonga does not have a lot of money to spend. The current government had already been trying to restrict the palace budget for King George's activities, which given his love of travel, and need for medical attention, was significant.

As well, economic growth has stalled. Tonga, despite having some beautiful locations, has struggled to expand its tourism industry.

King Tupou VI will be dealing with those issues and more. But the biggest question of all is how he will govern.

Tonga's monarch still maintains significant political influence, including the right to veto legislation.

I spoke to plenty of people who tell me Tonga is too far down the path or democratic rule to go back. But others are not so sure.

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