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• Commonwealth Secretary-General Visits Tonga

Commonwealth Secretary-General Visits Tonga

31 August 2005

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon started a two-day visit to Tonga on 30 August 2005 at the invitation of the Princess Regent, HRH Princess Salote Pilolevu Tuita. On the first day of his visit, the Secretary-General held meetings with the Princess Regent and senior cabinet ministers.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon

The discussions focused on upcoming Commonwealth meetings this year at which the Kingdom of Tonga is expected to be represented, including the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta in November, and the annual meetings of Commonwealth foreign ministers and Commonwealth finance ministers in September. Discussions in the country's capital, Nuku'alofa, also touched on political developments in Tonga on which Mr McKinnon has been maintaining an ongoing dialogue and engagement.

The Secretary-General also met Commonwealth High Commissioners based in Nuku'alofa.

His visit is taking place against the backdrop of a strike by almost half of the civil service over a pay dispute, which has now entered its sixth week. The Princess Regent and ministers provided the Secretary-General with a briefing on the matter, and Mr McKinnon later met representatives of the striking workers' organising committee who had asked to see him.

Commenting to the media, the Secretary-General said that he had not come to Tonga to resolve the strike. "My visit was planned long before the strike occurred and becoming involved in the strike was never my plan. I was prepared to listen to all sides about the strike, and have appreciated the briefings I have received from all parties. Ultimately, this is a matter which can only be resolved in Tonga by the parties concerned through direct dialogue, and I encourage that," he stated.

On 31 August 2005, Mr McKinnon was scheduled to meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Speaker of the Parliament. He was also expected to visit some of the development co-operation projects in Tonga where the Commonwealth is providing technical assistance.

The Secretary-General is in the Pacific for consultations with heads of government in several countries about the forthcoming CHOGM. Mr McKinnon has already visited Fiji Islands, where he addressed the Commonwealth Workshop on 'Government and Opposition -- Roles, Rights and Responsibilities', a three-day meeting which started on 29 August 2005. The workshop, organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum and the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations, brought together key political party and civil society leaders from the Commonwealth Pacific region to discuss co-operation among governments and opposition parties to strengthen democracy.

The Secretary-General is scheduled to visit Samoa and New Zealand before returning to Fiji Islands to address the opening ceremony of the annual conference of the CPA in Nadi on 6 September 2005.