Sione Teisina Fuko (born ~1950) 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 for the island of Ha'apai. He is a member of the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

. Fuko is from the village of Ha'ano on Ha'apai and was educated at

Piedmont Technical College Piedmont Technical College is a public community college with its main campus in Greenwood, South Carolina. It serves seven counties in the Lakelands region of South Carolina. Six additional County Centers also serve students in Abbeville Coun ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

and later at Faith International University & Seminary in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. He worked as a schoolteacher at St Andrews High School in Nuku'alofa, before moving to the

Bank of Tonga A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and then the

Tonga Development Bank Tonga Development Bank (TDB) is a development finance institution that promotes Tonga's economic and social advancement through a variety of banking services. Products and Microlending Tonga Development Bank supplies loans, savings, cross border ...

. He was first elected to Parliament in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. On 15 November 2006, he gave two speeches to OBN Television and at Pangai Si'i shortly before 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 ...

. He was subsequently charged with two counts of

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 ...

. On 25 March 2009 he was acquitted. In November 2009, Fuko was appointed to Cabinet as Minister for Revenue Services. Unlike previous Cabinet appointments, he was not forced to resign his seat, and continued to serve as a People's Representative. Fuko ran for re-election in the 2010 election, in the

Haʻapai 13 Haʻapai 13 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 b ...

constituency, but was unsuccessful.

References

Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Living people Government ministers of Tonga People's Democratic Party (Tonga) politicians People from Haʻapai Year of birth missing (living people) {{Tonga-politician-stub