Sitiveni Halapua (13 February 1949 – 29 January 2023) was a Tongan politician and Member of the Tongan Parliament. He was a deputy leader 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 ...

Academic career

Halapua had a PhD in economics from the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Between 1981 and 1988 he lectured in economics 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 later worked as Director of the Pacific Islands Development Programme at the East-West Center in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. While working at the East-West Center he developed a conflict-resolution system based on the Polynesian practice of ''Talanoa'', which he has applied in the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

, Fiji, and Tonga. In November 2005 he was appointed to the National Committee for Political Reform, which aimed at producing a plan for the democratic reform of Tonga. In October 2006 the Commission recommended a fully elected parliament. He subsequently blamed Prime Minister

Feleti Sevele Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele, Lord Sevele of Vailahi (born 7 July 1944) was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga from 30 March 2006 to 22 December 2010. Biography Early life Lord Sevele was born in Ma’ufanga, Nuku’alofa. He began his hig ...

's "hijacking" of the report for the

2006 Nuku'alofa riots 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

Political career

Halapua was elected to Parliament at the 2010 elections, as MP for

Tongatapu 3 Tongatapu 3 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 ...

. Following the elections, he was suggested as a candidate for Prime Minister. In July 2014 Halapua was dumped as a Democratic Party candidate. He subsequently announced he would campaign as an independent in the 2014 election, but ultimately chose not to stand. He later contested the 2017 election. He was unsuccessful.

References

1969 births category:2023 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Alumni of the University of Kent Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands politicians Academic staff of the University of the South Pacific People from Tongatapu Tongan academics Tongan economists {{Tonga-politician-stub