Tuvalu’s ongoing battle: culture vs constitution

Rev Tafue Lusama explains how a clash of law and culture lies at the heart of political tensions in Tuvalu.

Peace was shattered on the tiny 12,000-strong populated island of Tuvalu in January when tensions between elected government ministers and community elders reached boiling point.

The stability of the island came under threat following political protests staged by community elders demanding the resignation of an island MP.

As tensions spiralled between the two groups, police and military were deployed to guard potentially vulnerable government buildings and panic erupted across the country.

The island was thrown into further chaos when the government declared a two-week emergency status that imposed a curfew and ban on group meetings.

General secretary of the CWM-member Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu Rev Lusama says the pandemonium caused by the power struggle between the country's constitution and its culture was a ticking time bombf. And unless beaurocracy and tradition reach a compromise, he says, it won’t be the last.

Conflict

“One needs to understand our culture in order to fully understand the contextual conflicts. Because of the absence of respect in the constitution for culture, the problems between the two are starting to emerge. This is not to say that constitutional law is not relevant for a country like Tuvalu, far from it,” he says. “But the two should be reconciled in such a way that both respect and recognise the important role each plays in maintaining peace in the country.”

“During the recent political tension there was a misunderstanding from one of our cultural communities. All the eight island communities in Tuvalu believe that the representative they elect to parliament every four years should represent their community and their interests. They believe that if their community owns that seat in the House, they have cultural authority over it,” he adds.

“But in January, one island constituent asked their representative at parliament to cross the floor and support the opposition - this request came from within the cultural decision-making house which in a cultural context, cannot be ignored. It carries the ruling of the whole island including the chiefs and elders.

But on this occasion, the request was totally ignored by their MP, finance minister Lotoala Metia. As a result, the island chief, island council president and his secretary decided to stage a march of protest.”

The protests organised by community elders on Thursday 13 January were police-supervised, but the government soon feared the unrest threatened to weaken Tuvalu’s stability and they swiftly put emergency status in place.

“The issue is simple,” Mr Lusama says, “The minister concerned held on to his rights as dictated by the law, and according to our constitution, the island constituent cannot oust him from his seat in parliament. But the community believes his seat belongs to them since he is there to represent their interests. This whole thing happened because of a direct clash between the legal constitution and our cultural traditions.”

Tuvalu is made up of eight islands, and each island is ruled by chiefs and elders with its own norms and cultures. Traditionally, the chiefs and elders are the paramount authority and most respected by their community. An insult or disobedience against them is akin to disrespecting the whole community and its cultural values.

Identity

“As I see it, the constitution is something that was formulated for Tuvalu from the outside, and because of that, it does not recognise the importance of culture and tradition in Tuvalu,” Mr Lusama says.

“These cultural rules and regulations have maintained peace and harmony on each island for centuries. They are the core issues when we talk about our Tuvaluan identity - without them, we don't have an identity.

“When Christianity first arrived on the shores of Tuvalu in 1861, it did not try and operate outside the cultural context of the country, rather it assimilated itself into the cultural setting, and until now, Christianity has become part of the Tuvaluan culture.

“The church has played a major role in modifying the Tuvaluan culture into a Tuvalun Christian culture. Every aspect of it revolves around Christian principles.”

“Having said that, this does not mean that the church will always side with culture,” he adds. “Rather, the church recognises the need to be neutral so that she can play her prophetic role effectively. Our work is to try and avoid taking sides. We have a full time pastor to the government, and he visits individual ministers - that is the opportunity the church takes in lobbying the government on things it doesn't feel are right for the country. It’s also how we keep ministers strong when there are tensions like the recent situation.”

During the emergency rule, Mr Lusama contacted the government to inform them that the church was planning an urgent radio broadcast calling for renewed peace. Church leaders also held their Sunday worship as ususal during that time - despite concerns that the decree forbade groups of more than 10 from meeting at one time.

“The EKT has about 93 per cent of the total population of Tuvalu, and all government ministers are lay preachers and deacons of the church. Their decisions are very much influenced by their Christianity," Mr Lusama says. "They fully recognise that going against the church is going against a superior power. The government sees the church, I believe, as an institution which stands for the right thing all the time. Because of our large membership, government intervention in church affairs would definitely arouse anger nationwide, this the government cannot afford.”

“Peace now prevails,” he adds. “The church has not been affected so far physically, but we believe our members - especially those from the community concerned, were very much impacted. We kept encouraging them to hold fast to their faith and assured them that we were praying for them.”

Since the unrest happened in January, the offended Tuvaluan community has decided to file a lawsuit with the High court over what happened. "You must understand that that means a verdict has to be given in relation to what is dominant within our country - the law, or the value of our culture,” Mr Lusama says. “Tuvalu culture runs in our veins, and it cannot simply be ignored. If there is a possibility for a change, recognition of this in our national constitution will definitely solve a lot of misunderstanding and help to put the differences to rest.”