Tonga’s prime minister quits ahead of no-confidence vote

His resignation comes less than a year before a national election in the South Pacific island of 105,000 people and highlighted the occasional tensions between Tonga’s monarchy and politicians after reforms that transferred powers from the royal family and nobles to regular citizens in 2010.

A statement on the Tongan Parliament’s Facebook page said Mr Sovaleni, 54, quit “for the good of the country and moving Tonga forward.”

We still provide respect to his majesty. Whatever we do, we always consider that relationship.

Video from Tonga’s parliament on Monday showed the leader making brief and emotional remarks in Tongan before the no-confidence vote was scheduled to take place.

His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His leadership had survived a previous no-confidence vote in September 2023.

In recent months, Mr Sovaleni’s tenure was marked by difficult relations with Tonga’s head of state, King Tupou VI. Although the sovereign’s predecessor ceded power voluntarily in the 2010 democratic reforms, Tupou retains powers to dissolve parliament, appoint judges and veto laws.

The king at times made his dissatisfaction with Mr Sovaleni apparent, including by withdrawing confidence in him as defence minister in February.

Some lawmakers at first decried the king’s pressure on Mr Sovaleni and his foreign minister as unconstitutional, but both eventually resigned their posts in April — although Mr Sovaleni remained as prime minister.

A month earlier, Mr Sovaleni had been photographed at a traditional ceremony of apology to the king, but neither side publicly addressed the event.

When Tonga hosted the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting in August, the king was travelling abroad and did not attend the conference — a significant event for the small Pacific nation — which analysts said was a snub to Mr Sovaleni and his government.

Speaking to Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on Monday, Mr Sovaleni did not signal a particular reason for his departure.

Asked whether his decision was prompted by disagreements with the king, he said that “differences in views” were normal.

“I’m not sure whether that’s the reason,” he said, according to RNZ, adding that he still did not know why he and the foreign minister had lost the king’s confidence earlier this year.

“But we still provide respect to his majesty,” he said. “Whatever we do, we always consider that relationship. So maybe you can ask someone else.”

His successor will be selected by Tonga’s 26 politicians in a vote. The parliament is made up of 17 people elected by the public and nine who are nobles, elected by a group of hereditary chiefs.

Mr Sovaleni entered parliament in 2014 and has been a minister since 2019.

He led Tonga as the tourism-dependent country struggled to rebound from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, growing threats from climate change and a catastrophic 2022 volcanic eruption and tsunami, which battered beachfront resorts, homes and businesses around Tonga’s 171 islands.

A former senior public servant who also worked in the private sector before entering politics, Mr Sovaleni is the son of a former Tongan deputy prime minister. He attended high school in New Zealand and studied at Oxford University and the University of the South Pacific, attaining master’s degrees in computer science and business.