GOVERNMENT
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. The unicameral Legislative Assembly is controlled by the royal family and nobles. It consists of nine nobles who are elected by the 33 hereditary nobles of Tonga and nine people's representatives elected by universal adult suffrage for 3-year terms. The cabinet includes 12 ministers, appointed by the monarch, currently including two from the nine selected nobles' representatives and two from the nine elected people's representatives. 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 Court of Appeal (Privy Council),
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. 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 associated with the king or a noble and who may or may not
hold estates. Obligations and responsibilities 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 current system of government. In the past two 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 recently 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 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. Out of the nine current people's representatives, seven are members of Tongan democratic movements and two are independent. When the princely prime minister resigned from office in early 2006, People's Representative Feleti Sevele was appointed 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 April 2008.
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 recommending major changes to the political system that would result in a sizable majority of people's representatives in the Assembly, with the Assembly then choosing a prime minister from among its members. The prime minister would in turn select a cabinet from among the Assembly members. The Assembly endorsed the committee's report "in general," prior to adjourning in October 2007, but delayed implementation of the recommended reforms until 2010.
Principal
Government Officials
Monarch--King Siaosi Tupou V
Prime Minister--Feleti Vaka'uta Sevele
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Sonatane 'Tu'akinamolahi Taumoepeau-Tupou
Ambassador to the United States--Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu
Tonga
maintains an embassy at 250 East 51st Street, New York, New York
10022 (tel: 917-369-1136; fax: 917-369-1024). In addition, Tonga
has a Consulate General in San Francisco.
Type: Constitutional hereditary monarchy.
Constitution: 1875 (revised 1970).
Independence: June 4, 1970.
Branches: Executive--monarch, prime minister, and cabinet. Legislative--unicameral Legislative Assembly. Judicial--Court of Appeals (Privy Council), Supreme Court, Land Court, Magistrates' Court.
Administrative subdivisions: Three main island groups--Ha'apai, Tongatapu, Vava'u.
Political parties: People's Democratic Party, Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democratic Movement, Paati Langafonua Tu'uloa.
Suffrage: Universal at age 21.
Central government budget (2007/2008 est.): $116 million.
