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Progress and populism in Tongan politics

Campbell, Ian C. (2006) Progress and populism in Tongan politics. Journal of Pacific History, 41 (1). pp. 49-60. ISSN 0022-3344

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Abstract

Media fascination with and misrepresentation of Tongan politics continues, but there is better reason than usual for taking a close look at 2005. The government had suffered a series of reverses and embarrassments in the previous few years, including the dismissal of five ministers. Public controversy had arisen over attempts to control the media, over royalty's business interests, and finally over the price of electricity. These matters were bound to be exploited in the 2005 election, but the manner in which that happened was unexpected because of the new roles in politics for an old radical and one of the dismissed ministers. Moreover, the government had announced a minor but significant reform involving popular representation in cabinet. The general election of March 2005 confirmed the grip that critics of the government have on popular politics but the events of the next few months showed the government's run of bad luck continuing, so much so that it suffered a serious loss of respect. The government has had to make concessions unprecedented in constitutional times.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General)
J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE) > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User: Ms Neha Harakh
Date Deposited: 07 Dec 2006 18:47
Last Modified: 09 Jul 2012 06:27
URI: https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/2634

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