Three petitions with around 4,000 signatures have led to a parliamentary resolution asking the Tongan government to stop going ahead with ratifying a major UN convention.
Tongan women protest against the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, arguing it includes counter-culture clauses such as same sex marriage and abortion. Photo: Broadcomfm Broadcasting / Facebook
The government has faced mounting pressure since announcing it would ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW, earlier this year.
Now three separate christian groups have submitted petitions to parliament objecting to the ratification process with many worried it would open the door for same sex marriage and abortion.
MP Samiu Vaipulu followed up the submissions by putting forward the parliamentary resolution which was supported in the house.
Mr Vaipulu says the people have done all they can and now the issue is between parliament and the govenment.
"It is the constitutional right of the people to have a petition. What parliament has told government to do, it is up to them whether they want to do it or not but there are other means of getting through to what the people want. That is democracy. They have to listen to the people."