‘Isileli Pulu (born 15 May 1957"ʻIsileli Pulu"
, Parliament of Tonga) is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n politician and former Member of the Tongan Parliament. He is a member of the

Human Rights and Democracy Movement The Human Rights and Democracy Movement (HRDM) is a political party in Tonga. Its leader is Uliti Uata. The HRDM was founded in the late 1970s as an informal group of Tongans interested in democratic reform. It was formalised in 1992 as the Pro ...

and the

Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands The Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands ( to, Paati Temokalati ʻa e ʻOtu Motu ʻAngaʻofa) is a political party in Tonga. The party's leader at its foundation was 'Akilisi Pohiva. The party was launched in September 2010, and included s ...

Biography

He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

(Australia). Pulu was first elected to Parliament for the island of

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...

in 2001. He had previously run in the 1999 election, but was unsuccessful. In 1999 Pulu was convicted of

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

and fined $1,500 for a letter to the '' Times of Tonga'' in which he referred to the king as a pig. In 2002 Pulu was charged with

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

and forgery over the publication of a letter claiming king Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV had a secret fortune. He was acquitted by a jury in May 2003. In 2003, he challenged then-Police Minister

Clive Edwards Clive Edwards (born 19 January 1953, Hounslow, Middlesex, England) is a drummer, who is best known as a former member of the British band, UFO (from August 1989 to June 1993). He also featured on the Bronz second album ''Carried By The Storm' ...

' use of police housing. He also opposed government plans for a media clampdown aimed at preventing criticism from the '' Times of Tonga''. After the 2006 Nuku‘alofa riots Pulu was accused of encouraging the riot and inciting two men to burn down the Shoreline building, in which eight people were killed. He was arrested in January 2007 and charged with abetting murder and arson, and sedition. He was acquitted of the former charges by a jury in July 2008. The sedition charges against him and a number of other pro-democracy MPs were dismissed in September 2009. Pulu was elected to the seat of

Tongatapu 4 Tongatapu 4 is an electoral constituency for the Legislative Assembly in the Kingdom of Tonga. It was established for the November 2010 general election, when the multi-seat regional constituencies for People's Representatives were replaced by ...

in the 2010 elections. Following the election and selection of a Prime Minister he accepted the position of Minister of Education in the new Cabinet. On September 1, 2011, he was reshuffled to the Ministry for Labour, Commerce and Industries. In late June 2012, he -along with two other ministers- resigned from the Cabinet, so as to support a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

tabled by his party (DPFI) against the government. He was not re-elected at the

2014 Tongan general election General elections were held in Tonga on 27 November 2014. All twenty-six elected seats in the single-chamber Legislative Assembly were up for election, although the monarch, acting on the advice of his Prime Minister, retains the possibility t ...

. He stood again in the 2022 Tongatapu 4 by-election.

References

External links

Profile
at Parliament of Tonga. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulu, Isileli 1957 births Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Living people Human Rights and Democracy Movement politicians Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands politicians Charles Sturt University alumni Government ministers of Tonga People from Tongatapu