A petition circulating in Tonga is calling for the newly appointed chief justice, Malcolm Bishop from Wales, to have his position revoked because he is openly gay. The petition was launched by members of Tonga’s law society and a protest is also planned. Tonga Law Society president Lopeti Senituli has distanced himself from the petition. Senituli said the lawyers who kicked the petition into motion were acting independently and not in conjunction with Tonga Law Society. “That is not an official petition of the Tonga Law Soceity,” he told RNZ Pacific on Monday. “It is a petition by members of the [Tonga] Law Society but it is not sanctioned by the Tonga Law Society executive council,” he added.