22 Nov 2003

Tonga youth parliament to be held on Tuesday

11:29 am on 22 November 2003

Tonga's second ever Youth Parliament will be held in the country's Parliament House from next Tuesday.

38 youths from around the country have been selected to take part in the parliament, with each being assigned a role of an MP, including the nobles and ministers.

The main topic for the parliament is employment, with youth regarding it as their main concern.

The Management Adviser for the National Youth Congress, Mary McCoy, says the Youth Parliament will prepare submissions for the cabinet-proper.

"It's a critical piece for our youths and there are just very few options for them. It happens that in Tonga right now there are now employment laws and so this is an opportunity for the youths to come together with recommendations that will be submitted to government for consideration to implement some laws to protect the employees."