Siaosi ‘Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni (born 28 February 1970) is a Tongan politician who has served as the

Prime Minister of Tonga The prime minister of Tonga (historically referred to as the premier) is the country's head of government. Tonga is a monarchy with the king, currently Tupou VI, former prime minister, as head of state. The current prime minister is Siaosi Sov ...

since 2021. He has previously served as a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

, and from 2014 to 2017, he was

Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga The Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga is the principal deputy of the Prime Minister of Tonga. The office is currently vacant. List of officeholders * Havea Tui'ha'ateiho (1953–1960) * Langi Kavaliku (22 August 1991 – 2000) * Tevita Poasi Tu ...

Early life

Sovaleni is from Ngele'ia on Tonga's main island

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 ...

and is the son of former Deputy Prime Minister Langi Kavaliku. He attended

Timaru Boys' High School Timaru Boys' High School (also known as TBHS), established in 1880, is a single sex state (public) secondary school located in the port city of Timaru, South Canterbury, New Zealand. TBHS caters for years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 19 years). At th ...

in New Zealand and graduated in 1988. He was educated at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in computer science in 1992. He subsequently completed a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

at the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. He worked as a public servant for Tonga's Ministry of Finance from 1996 to 2010, before working for the

Pacific Community The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories. The organisation's headquarters are in Nouméa ...

and

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

. He returned to Tonga in 2013 to work as the Chief Executive in the Ministry of Public Enterprises.

Political career

Sovaleni was first elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Tonga The Legislative Assembly of Tonga ( to, Fale Alea ʻo Tonga) is the unicameral legislature of Tonga. The assembly has 26 members in which 17 members elected by majority of the people for a 5-year term in multi-seat constituencies via the singl ...

at the 2014 Tongan general election, and appointed

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and Minister of Environment and Communications in the Cabinet 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 ...

. As Communications Minister, he pushed through two bills allowing for internet

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

in 2015. In September 2017, he was sacked for disloyalty for supporting King

Tupou VI Tupou VI (; born 12 July 1959) is the King of Tonga. He is the younger brother and successor of the late King George Tupou V. He was officially confirmed by his brother on 27 September 2006 as the heir presumptive to the Throne of Tonga, as his ...

's decision to sack the Prime Minister, dissolve Parliament and call new elections. He ran in the

2017 Tongan general election General elections were held in Tonga on 16 November 2017 to elect 17 of the 26 seats to the Legislative Assembly. King Tupou VI dissolved the Assembly on 25 August 2017 on the advice of its Speaker, Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō, who claimed that ...

and was re-elected as the only non- DPFI MP on Tongatapu. He subsequently contested the Premiership with Pohiva, but was defeated by 12 votes to 14. Following the death of

, Sovaleni supported Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa for Prime Minister. He was appointed to Tuʻiʻonetoa's Cabinet as Minister for Education and Training. In January 2021, he was bestowed with the chiefly title of Hu’akavameiliku, which had also been held by his father. He was re-elected in the 2021 election while receiving the highest number of votes of all candidates for any seat.

Prime minister (2021–present)

In post-election negotiations he emerged as one of the two chief contenders for the Premiership, along with ʻAisake Eke. On 15 December 2021, he was elected Prime Minister, defeating Eke with 16 votes. Eke has stated that he will contest the election results in court. He was formally appointed Prime Minister on 27 December. He named his Cabinet on 29 December 2021, retaining the Education portfolio and in addition taking responsibility for Police and the Armed Forces. On 12 March 2022 he tested positive for

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

* * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sovaleni, Siaosi 'Ofakivahafolau 1970 births Alumni of the University of Oxford Deputy Prime Ministers of Tonga Prime Ministers of Tonga Education ministers of Tonga Communication ministers of Tonga Government ministers of Tonga Defence Ministers of Tonga Independent politicians in Tonga Living people Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga People from Tongatapu University of Auckland alumni University of the South Pacific alumni Tongan chiefs Foreign ministers of Tonga