Mateni Tapueluelu 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 journalist and politician. He has worked as a correspondent for

Radio New Zealand International RNZ Pacific or Radio New Zealand Pacific, sometimes abbreviated to RNZP, is a division of Radio New Zealand and the official international broadcasting station of New Zealand. It broadcasts a variety of news, current affairs and sports programme ...

in Tonga, then became editor of the '' Keleʻa'', the newspaper of the pro-democracy movement and of 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 ...

, led by his father-in-law ʻAkilisi Pohiva. Tapueluelu's wife Laucala, Pohiva's daughter, is the newspaper's publisher."PTOA Chair preemptively purging party ‘dissidents’ for fear of being ousted?"
''Tonga Herald'', 10 July 2014
''

Matangi Tonga ''Matangi Tonga'' is an online newspaper providing Tongan news in both English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', ...

'', 28 November 2014 In 2013, he was fined T$ 130,000 for having published in ''Keleʻa'' a

letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mail ...

found to have defamed members of the government. Tapueluelu and his wife published an editorial criticising the ruling, whereupon they were found to be in contempt of court, and subjected to an additional fine of T$2,700. In the build-up to the 2014 general election, the Democratic Party suffered a split, de-selecting several of its own sitting members of the Legislative Assembly. Among those de-selected was Semisi Tapueluelu, MP for Tongatapu 10 and Mateni Tapueluelu's father. Under Mateni Tapueluelu's lead, ''Keleʻa'' published allegations of a sex scandal against his father. In the election in November, Semisi Tapueluelu lost his seat to the party's endorsed candidate in his constituency, while Mateni Tapueluelu was elected MP for Tongatapu 4. In so doing, he defeated incumbent MP and long-time key party figure ʻIsileli Pulu, who had also been de-selected and had therefore stood as an independent. In December 2015 Tapueluelu's election was annulled by the Supreme Court on the grounds of unpaid fines owing from the 2013 criminal libel case. He successfully appealed against the ruling and was reinstated as an MP in April 2016. In March 2017 he was appointed Minister of Police in a reshuffle following ʻAisake Eke's resignation, replacing Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa. He was reappointed after the DPFI landslide in the 2017 election, but offered his resignation in March 2018 after a dispute with Armed Forces Minister

Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi Siosaia Lausiʻi, Lord Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi, also known as Lord Maʻafu (of Vaini and Tokomololo) (1 July 1955 – 12 December 2021), was a Tongan politician, military officer, and member of the Tongan nobility. Biography Lausiʻi was born in ...

. His resignation was not accepted. Following the death of

ʻAkilisi Pōhiva Samiuela ʻAkilisi Pōhiva (7 April 1941 – 12 September 2019) was a Tongan pro-democracy activist and politician. Pohiva, the leader of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI), served as the Prime Minister of Tonga from 2014 to h ...

he was not appointed to the cabinet of Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa. He contested the

2021 Tongan general election General elections were held in Tonga on 18 November 2021 to elect 17 of the 26 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Following the election four MPs were unseated for bribery. Background The 2017 general election resulted in a landslide victo ...

, but was unsuccessful. He was re-elected again in the 2022 Tongatapu 4 by-election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapueluelu, Mateni Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Living people Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands politicians Government ministers of Tonga Tongan journalists People from Tongatapu 20th-century Tongan writers 21st-century Tongan writers Year of birth missing (living people)