about two weeks before the election, it was announced that the tonga broadcasting commission would henceforth censor candidates' political broadcasts, and that tbc reporters would be banned from reporting on political matters, allegedly because they lacked the necessary training for objective coverage. the decision was criticised by the pacific islands news association, and new zealand's minister of revenue, peter dunne, commented that it was "unfortunate". tonga review said that the decision was a restriction on freedom of speech, and compared tonga with zimbabwe, a comparison rejected by the tbc. tongan mp clive edwards said that the tbc's decision was aimed at stifling criticism of the government in the lead-up to the election, and to hamper the re-election chances of pro-democracy mps. pesi fonua, head of the tonga media council, said that the election "very much depends on how the candidates present themselves", and that censorship would "definitely have an impact".