BBC: Tongan riots after reforms delay

[momophile]

Unrest in Tonga only two months after the King's death.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6153238.stm
Tongan riots after reforms delay

Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa has been hit by riots after pro-democracy groups protested against a government delay in implementing political reforms.
Rioters smashed windows in the prime minister's office and other government buildings and overturned cars.

Calls for more democracy have grown over the last year, and were fanned by the old king's death in September.

The South Pacific nation's king and hereditary noblemen hold the majority of seats in the country's parliament.

The rioting began after the government assembly failed to pass democratic reforms before it rises for the year later on Thursday, Radio New Zealand International said.