When is the Tongan Constitution Day?
The Tongan Constitution Day is a public holiday in Tonga, observed on November 4th.
In accordance with the Public Holidays Act (Cap.51), if Constitutional Day falls on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, the public holiday shall be celebrated on the next following Monday; and if it falls on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the public holiday will be celebrated on the Monday before.
This is the National Day of Tonga and commemorates the anniversary of the passage of the constitution in November 1875.
History of the Tongan Constitution Day
Tonga's Constitution was first enacted by HM King Tupou I on November 4th 1875 establishing Tonga as a modern constitutional monarchy. It is supreme law under which the Government of Tonga operates and defines the balance between the executive, legislature, and judiciary.
The Constitution consists of 115 clauses in three parts; the "Declaration of Rights", "Form of Government" and "The Land".
Some of the most notable laws in the Constitution are the land clauses forbidding the sale of land to foreigners and requiring that land could only be granted to Tongan citizens. It is said that King Tupou I was driven to add these laws to the Constitution after he visited New Zealand and Australia where he saw beggars and was told that they were unable to work because they did not own any land.
The Constitution also states that the Tongan Flag, which was adopted in 1865, can never be altered.
The Tongan constitution is the ninth oldest existing national written constitution in the world. It is the second oldest existing constitution in the Southern Hemisphere; Argentina adopted their constitution in 1853.
