Samiuela ʻAkilisi Pōhiva (7 April 1941 – 12 September 2019) was a

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 ...

n pro-democracy activist and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. A key leader of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI), he served as the

Prime Minister of Tonga The prime minister of Tonga (historically referred to as the premier) is the head of government of Tonga. Tonga is a monarchy with the List of monarchs of Tonga, king, currently Tupou VI, former prime minister, as head of state. The current p ...

from 2014 to his death in 2019. He was only the fourth commoner to serve as Prime Minister (after Shirley Baker in the 1880s, Siosateki Tonga in the 1890s and Feleti Sevele in the 2000s), and the first commoner to be elected to that position by Parliament rather than appointed by the King.

Early career

Pōhiva worked as a teacher and later studied at the University of the South Pacific before joining the Tongan Teacher Training Staff. He became active in Tonga's pro-democracy movement in the 1980s, and in 1981 he co-founded their monthly radio programme, "Matalafo Laukai". In 1984, he was dismissed from the civil service as punishment for his criticism of the government; he subsequently sued them successfully for

unfair dismissal In labour law, unfair dismissal is an act of employment termination made without good reason or contrary to the country's specific legislation. Situation per country Australia Australia has long-standing protection for employees in relation to ...

. He then founded the democracy movement's monthly newsletter, ''Keleʻa'', in 1986.

Political career

Pōhiva was the longest-serving people's representative in the Tongan Parliament, having first been elected in 1987. His political career was marked by constant battles with the Tongan monarchy over democracy, transparency and corruption. In 1996 he was imprisoned for contempt of Parliament on the order of the Legislative Assembly for reporting on Parliament's proceedings. He was subsequently released after the Supreme Court ruled that the imprisonment was "unlawful and unconstitutional". Pro-democracy MP ʻAkilisi Pōhiva arrested
, ''Pacific Media Watch'', 18 January 2007 In 2002 he was charged with

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

over an article published in his newspaper ''Keleʻa'' alleging the king had a secret fortune, but was acquitted by a jury. On 18 January 2007, Pōhiva was arrested over his role in the 2006 Nukuʻalofa riots. He was subsequently charged with sedition. In the 2008 election he was re-elected for an eighth term as the No 1 Tongatapu People's Representative with 11,290 votes. In September 2010, he established the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands along with other Human Rights and Democracy Movement People's Representatives, in order to contest the 2010 elections. His party secured twelve of the seventeen seats for People's Representatives (the other five going to independent candidates, while representatives of the nobility held an additional nine seats). He announced his intention to stand for the position of Prime Minister. Following constitutional reforms, this would be the first time the Prime Minister was elected by Parliament, rather than appointed by the monarch. The election for the premiership was held on 21 December, between Pōhiva and nobles' representative Lord Tuʻivakanō. Pōhiva obtained twelve votes, but was defeated by Tuʻivakanō, who was elected with fourteen. Following the election and selection of a Prime Minister he accepted a position in the new Cabinet, as Minister for Health. On 13 January, however, he resigned from Cabinet, in protest against the inclusion in Cabinet of members from outside Parliament (to positions which he stated could have been entrusted to members of his party), and also to express his refusal to sign an agreement which would have prevented him from voting (in Parliament) against measures endorsed by Cabinet, based on the principle of collective Cabinet responsibility. Although there is no formal Opposition, Pōhiva was, from then on, considered the ''de facto'' opposition leader. In December 2013,

Parliamentarians for Global Action Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, that informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, de ...

presented him with their annual Defender of Democracy Award, in recognition of his three and a half decades of campaigning for greater democracy in Tonga. He was the first Pacific Islander to receive the award.

Prime Minister (2014–2019)

The Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands won 9 of the 17 people's seats at the 2014 Tongan general election. Following the election, Pōhiva was elected Prime Minister, defeating Samiu Vaipulu by 15 votes to 11. He appointed a cabinet of commoners, with Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi as the only noble representative. Pōhiva's government made a controversial decision to ratify the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted ...

in early 2015, but later reversed the decision over concerns that it could lead to same-sex marriage and abortion. In February 2017 Pōhiva survived a no-confidence motion, with his noble opponents only able to muster 10 votes in favour, against 14 in support of the government. Finance Minister ʻAisake Eke abstained and was fired. On 25 August 2017 King Tupou VI sacked Pōhiva and dissolved the Assembly and called fresh elections in the hope of getting a more tractable prime minister. The resulting 2017 Tongan general election was a landslide for the DPFI, and Pōhiva was re-elected to the premiership, defeating his former deputy Siaosi Sovaleni 14 votes to 12. His post-election cabinet included one minister from outside the legislative assembly, Dr Tevita Tuʻi Uata.

Personal life and death

Pōhiva was married to Neomai Pōhiva (1948 – 2018). He died at Auckland City Hospital in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

on 12 September 2019, from complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. His state funeral was held on 19 September in Nukuʻalofa.

References

External links