A Tuvalu politician, Enele Sopoaga, says it's unfortunate that the magistrate court has declined to rule on whether the public order act should be enforced.
After a protest last week, the ban on public gathering in the capital was invoked by the government.
Mr Sopoaga says yesterday's court decision to throw out the villagers' complaint has left them without a way of addressing their concerns.
"The whole country is at the mercy of these eight people forming the government, and since all the freedoms, the fundamental freedoms, of the people have been pushed aside by these orders, we are actually moving into some sort of dictatorship or autocratic type of government. This is most unfortunate and has never happened in the history of Tuvalu."
