Police anti-terrorist experts are closely monitoring New Zealand ’s Tongan community after a prominent pro-democracy protester tried to ram his car through the heavy gates of King Taufa’ahu Tupou IV’s Auckland residency over the weekend.
The man, Aloni Fisher Taione, 41, failed to beach the gates soon after midnight on Saturday. With supporters nearby he got out and set fire to the car.
The ailing king was inside ‘Atalanga, his Epsom, Auckland , residency but left later in the morning for Tonga where he will tomorrow attend his 88th birthday celebrations.
Taione appeared in the Auckland District Court later on Saturday on charges of arson and wilful damage and was bailed without plea to appear again today.
Police prosecutor Rachel Johnson told Justice of the Peace K.B. Evans that they opposed bail for Taione, saying his protest behaviour was ‘’at the extreme end of the spectrum’’.
The police threat assessment unit, linked to the Diplomatic Protection Squad and the Anti-Terrorism Squad, had serious concerns about the threat poised by Taione and other pro-democracy campaigners.
‘’The police do hold fears the defendant will continue to offend,’’ she said.
Police also feared possible reaction against Taione could endanger him.
Duty solicitor Nicky Scott pleaded for bail saying Taione’s sick mother was to arrive from Tonga that night. She said as the king had left for Tonga there was no point in him continuing to protest at the royal residency.
‘’This man is fighting for democracy in Tonga ,’’ she said.
Taione was freed on strict bail conditions which included being ordered to stay a kilometre away from ‘Atalanga and 200 metres away from the king when he was outside the residency.
Wearing a police boiler suit and barefoot Taione told reporters outside he believed armed soldiers were patrolling the streets of Nuku’alofa.
‘’I wanted to alert the king and cabinet that something was going to happen in Tonga ,’’ he said.
"What happened in East Timor is going to happen in Tonga if the king and the Prime Minister are not out of the government. The people will rule," Taione said.
Soldiers were evident on the capital’s streets but they were rehearsing for tomorrow’s birthday parade. Soldiers from the Tonga Defence Service, the French Army and the United States Navy are to march.
Taione and a small group of Tongans were last year prominent in protests linked to a public servant strike in the kingdom. On a previous occasion Taione, accompanied by a group openly drinking alcohol, broke through ‘Atalangi’s gates and brawled with staff.
That incident prompted Tonga to send a 20 strong Tongan police squad to protect the king who now lives most of his life in Auckland .
The lavish celebrations coincide with a warning from the International Monetary Fund that Tonga was facing economic collapse.
It said debt indicators imply that Tonga had slipped into a category of ‘’ low-income countries with a high risk of debt distress’’.
The World Bank defines debt distress as a poor country either accumulating arrears or seeking debt reduction through the World Bank’s Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative or resorting to non-concessional borrowing from the IMF.
There had been ‘’negligible success’’ at efforts to strengthen governance and promote private sector activity and the country’s prospects had deteriorated.
An IMF team went to Tonga in March in the wake of a public service strike last year which saw the royal controlled government agreed to salary increases of about 70 percent for its 4000 civil servants over the next two years.
The rise was slammed by the IMF saying it ‘’represents a marked departure from the more cautious fiscal policy that had been adopted over the past two years. It had ‘’significant consequences for macroeconomic and external stability’’ and warned Tonga ’s economy had become increasingly vulnerable.
Tonga was trying to cope by downsizing its civil service by giving redundancy worth 28 million pa’anga (NZ$23 million) to 1000 civil servants. To fund it the government is trying to sell its 40 percent share of the Westpac Bank of Tonga for 34 million pa’anga (NZ$28 million).