NUKU’ALOFA (AFP) – Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni abruptly resigned yesterday, stepping down in the wake of a power struggle with the Pacific nation’s royal family.
Sovaleni has butted heads with Tonga’s influential King Tupou VI, fuelling speculation of a deepening rift between the royals and his government.
Sovaleni resigned before facing a vote of no confidence brought on by opposition lawmakers yesterday afternoon.
Tonga’s hereditary nobles occupy nine seats in the country’s 26-member legislative assembly.
If the nobles voted as a bloc alongside the opposition, they would have enough numbers to force Sovaleni out.
It was not immediately clear who would replace Oxford-educated Sovaleni, who has been prime minister since 2021.
Veteran politician and longtime rival ‘Aisake Eke loomed as one of the likely frontrunners.
The line of Tongan kings and queens stretches back more than 1,000 years, according to a government history.
King Tupou VI penned a letter earlier this year saying he no longer had “confidence” in Sovaleni as Tonga’s armed forces minister. Sovaleni refused to stand down from the portfolio, sparking a tense standoff between two of Tonga’s most powerful figures.
Eventually Sovaleni backed down, delivering a traditional apology to the king and resigning from the Armed Forces Ministry.
