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The Tongan government is searching for a compromise after churches demanded that there should be no bread for sale on Sundays.
For the largely Christian population, Sunday is celebrated as a strict Sabbath, enshrined so in the constitution.
There is a Sunday trading ban with only essential services exempt.
The bakeries have been allowed to operate on Sundays since 1982, after a state of emergency was declared following a cyclone, but church leaders says it must end.
Tonga has traditionally been strongly opposed to commercial trading on a Sunday.
The commerce minister, Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa, said the government wants a compromise and it has been talking with the various stakeholders, including the public through talkback radio.
“We may find a compromise, say certain hours on Sunday, but right now, according to the law, the bakeries should not operate on Sunday.”
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News category: Asia Pacific.
