Tonga: Government

Principal Government Officials

Chief of State: King Siaosi Tupou V
Head of Government: Prime Minister Siale'ataonga Tu'ivakano

Tonga is the South Pacific's last Polynesian kingdom. Its executive branch includes the prime minister and the cabinet, which becomes the Privy Council when presided over by the monarch. In intervals between legislative sessions, the Privy Council makes ordinances, which become law if confirmed by the legislature. Prior to November 2010 elections, the unicameral Legislative Assembly was dominated by the royal family and nobles. It consisted of nine nobles elected by the 33 hereditary nobles of Tonga; nine people's representatives elected by universal adult suffrage for 3-year terms; and the cabinet of 12-14 ministers, appointed by the monarch. The governors of Ha'apai and Vava'u are appointed to their offices and serve as ex officio members of the cabinet. The Legislative Assembly sits for 4 or 5 months a year.

Tonga's court system consists of the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, the Magistrates' Court, and the Land Court. Judges are appointed by the monarch.

The only form of local government is through town and district officials who have been popularly elected since 1965. The town official represents the central government in the villages; the district official has authority over a group of villages.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS
For most of the 20th century Tonga was quiet, inward-looking, and somewhat isolated from developments elsewhere in the world. The Tongans, as a whole, continue to cling to many of their old traditions, including a respect for the nobility. However, an increasingly popular pro-democracy movement is articulating a rising demand for more rights for the common people and curbs to the influence of the nobility. Tonga's complex social structure is essentially broken into three tiers: the king, the nobles, and the commoners. Between the king, nobles, and commoners are matapule, sometimes called "talking chiefs," who are allied with the king or a noble, and who may also hold estates. Obligations and responsibilities among the groups are reciprocal, and although the nobility are able to extract favors from people living on their estates, they likewise must extend favors to their people. Status and rank play a powerful role in personal relationships, even within families.

Tongans are beginning to confront the problem of how to preserve their cultural identity and traditions in the wake of the increasing impact of Western technology and culture. Migration and the gradual monetization of the economy have led to the breakdown of the traditional extended family. Some of the poor, traditionally cared for by the extended family, are now being left without visible means of support. The rapidly increasing population is already too great to provide the constitutionally mandated 8.25-acre plot of land or ‘api tukuhau due each male at age 16. Population density reached 132 persons per square kilometer in 2002, fueling the growing population shift from farm and village to urban centers, where traditional societal and political structures are undergoing steady change. Increasing educational opportunities, expanded media penetration and foreign influences via the country's extensive diaspora have raised the political awareness of Tonga's commoners and stimulated dissent against the system of government. In the past 2 decades, calls for political reform have gained wide-ranging support and momentum.

Historically, political reform has been slow in the kingdom. In a departure from this, the late King of Tonga announced in late 2004 that he would henceforth include people's representatives in the 12-member appointed cabinet. Following elections in March 2005, the king appointed two of nine elected people's representatives and two nobles' representatives as cabinet ministers. In April 2005, Tonga's first official political party, the People's Democratic Party, was formed, and its candidate was one of those elected to parliament in special May by-elections held to fill the two people's representational seats vacated by the king's cabinet appointments. The by-election also resulted in the election of the first woman to sit in the Tongan parliament in 24 years. When the princely prime minister resigned from office in early 2006, the king appointed People's Representative Feleti Sevele as the first commoner prime minister in modern times.

In November 2006, days of political demonstrations deteriorated into a riot, leaving the central business district of Nuku'alofa in ruins. The government declared a state of emergency to restore law and order to the capital. The state of emergency was repeatedly extended, and was still in place in June 2010.

In recent years, the king has repeatedly expressed support for political reforms. In August 2007, a tripartite committee of cabinet, nobles', and people's representatives issued a report to the Legislative Assembly, which endorsed the committee's report "in general," prior to adjourning in October 2007. In July 2008, the Assembly passed legislation to establish a Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission (CEC) charged with undertaking preparatory work for the 2010 political reforms. The CEC was established on January 5, 2009 and had 10 months to report to the Privy Council and parliament with recommendations on constitutional and electoral reforms for consideration. On November 5, 2009, the CEC presented its final report. Parliament endorsed approximately two-thirds of the CEC’s recommendations in December 2009. Constitutional and legislative amendments were made to facilitate the implementation of the endorsed reforms. The reforms included increasing the number of people’s representatives from nine to 17 and a new electoral system under which 17 electoral constituencies were drawn by a newly established Electoral Commission.

First elections under the current political reform process took place on November 25, 2010. The elections were observed by officials from the Australian and New Zealand governments, and were deemed to be free and fair. Of the 17 people’s representative seats, the Friendly Islands Democratic Party (FIDP) won 12. However, this was not enough to secure an outright majority and after days of political wrangling, a secret ballot produced a noble representative, Lord Siale'ataonga Tu'ivakano, as Tonga’s 15th prime minister. He is the first person to hold the job as a result of being elected by his peers and not appointed by the monarch.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Tonga maintains cordial relations with most countries and has close relations with its Pacific neighbors. It is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum. In 1998, it recognized China and broke relations with Taiwan.

In 1972, Tonga laid claim to the tide-washed, isolated Minerva Reefs, some 480 kilometers southwest of Nuku'alofa, to forestall efforts by a private Anglo-American group to establish an independent Republic of Minerva on the reefs. The reefs are regularly patrolled by the Tonga Defense Service.
 

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