The Legislative Assembly of Tonga () is the unicameral legislature of

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

History

A Legislative Assembly providing for representation of nobles and commoners was established in 1862 by King George Tupou I. This body met every four years and was continued in the 1875 Constitution. Originally the Legislative Assembly consisted of all holders of noble titles, an equal number of people's representatives, the governors for Haʻapai and Vavaʻu, and at least four Cabinet Ministers chosen by the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

. An increase in the number of nobles from twenty to thirty saw the Assembly grow to 70 members. Amendments in 1914 saw a reduction in the size of the Assembly and annual sittings. The principle of equal representation of nobles and commoners was retained. In April 2010 the Legislative Assembly enacted a package of political reforms, increasing the number of people's representatives from nine to seventeen, with ten seats for

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa, 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% o ...

, three for Vavaʻu, two for Haʻapai and one each for Niuas and ʻEua. The 100-year-old Tongan Parliament House was destroyed by Cyclone Gita, a Category 4 tropical cyclone that passed through the nation on 12 and 13 February 2018. Parliament subsequently moved to the Tongan National Centre complex in Tofoa. In November 2021 the Tongan government announced that a new parliament building would be constructed on Nukuʻalofa's waterfront.

Electoral system

The assembly has 26 members in which 17 members are elected by the people for 5-year term in single-seat

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

via the

single non-transferable vote Single non-transferable vote or SNTV is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote. Being a semi-proportional variant of first-past-the-post voting, under SNTV small parties, as well as large parties, have a chance t ...

system. There are 9 members elected by the 33 hereditary nobles of Tonga.

Speaker of the Assembly

The Legislative Assembly is presided over by a Speaker, who is elected by majority of the elected members of Parliament at the first meeting after the general election and constitutionally appointed by the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

. Prior to 2010, the Speaker was appointed by the monarch. A complete list of the Speakers is below:

Terms of the Tongan Legislative Assembly

Until 2010, the government was appointed by the monarch without reference to Parliament, and there were no political parties. The last term under the old system was the 2008 Tongan Legislative Assembly. Political reform in 2010 saw the Prime Minister elected by Parliament from among its members, leading to

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

Officers

Clerk (''Kalake Pule Fale Alea ʻo Tonga'') *Sione Tekiteki (2011–2012) *Gloria Poleʻo (2012–present)

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Politics of Tonga Political organisations based in Tonga Government of Tonga

1862 establishments in Tonga