Tonga

Abstract

Tonga Trish Tupou (bio) and Amanda Sullivan-Lee (bio) Like many countries around the Pacific, Tonga has experienced a multitude of change in the past twelve months. One of the biggest changes to the House of Representatives was, of course, the passing of Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva in September 2019. Only one month prior, newspapers reported on the tears Pōhiva shed while listening to the Pacific Climate Warriors’ speech during the biannual Pacific Islands Forum (pif) summit, held in Tuvalu—perhaps a foreshadow ing of what was to come. After being evacuated to Aotearoa/New Zealand with pneumonia, Pōhiva passed away in Auckland City Hospital on the morning of 12 September, aged seventy-eight. To many, his passing did not come as a surprise, as he had been battling liver disease for many months. Semisi Sika, Pōhiva’s deputy, took over as acting prime minister until 8 October, when current Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu‘i‘onetoa was elected as leader by the Legislative Assembly. Since taking office, Tu‘i‘onetoa has made no significant changes to the Tongan government, apart from announcing his own party—the People’s Party. This could be seen as a strategic move on his behalf, symbolizing Tu‘i‘onetoa’s focus on mitigating the divisive nature of current Tongan politics (Graue 2019). How the People’s Party differs from the People’s National Party and the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands—and how effective Tu‘i‘onetoa’s ability to unite Tongan politics will be—remains to be seen. However, the beginning of his term has not been uneventful. Just five months after Tu‘i‘onetoa’s October 2019 inauguration, the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (covid-19) became a global pandemic, announced by the World Health Organization on 11 March. Luckily, at the time of writing, Tonga remains one of the few Pacific nations to be free of covid-19. Although the virus has not come to Tonga, the aftermath of the global economic crisis in response to the pandemic could significantly impact the kingdom’s economy. This will be yet another challenge that Tu‘i‘onetoa will have to address. While the future remains unknown, this political review concentrates on three main events: the passing of Pōhiva, including the lead up to his death, his funeral, and public response; Prime Minister Tu‘i‘onetoa’s leadership; and Tonga’s response to covid-19 and its immediate impacts. One of Pōhiva’s last acts as Tonga’s prime minister was his attendance at the pif summit in Tuvalu a month before his passing. The summit was focused on climate change, with regional leaders gathering to negotiate and write their statement and [End Page 252] communiqué for September’s climate change talks at the United Nations. A major area of contention was whether the pif statement would condemn some nations’ continued reliance on coal and coal-powered energy. This critique, which was spearheaded by the smaller island states, did not make it into the final statement from the pif leaders. However, for Pōhiva, the summit was not just a moment of political negotiations but also an emotional event. As part of the gathering, leaders heard from Pacific Climate Warrior activists from Tuvalu, and it was this that moved Pōhiva to tears. It appeared that Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga was deeply moved by Pōhiva’s expression of emotion, saying that he had “shed tears in front of the leaders, because of the passion referring to the presentation from the two young warriors of climate change” (sbs News 2019). This was a bittersweet contrast to the actions of Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who continued to deny Australia’s outrageous carbon emissions and ongoing reliance on its coal-exporting industry. Though not much has been written about Pōhiva’s influence in the pif summit, it is fitting that one of his last major appearances would involve climate justice—an issue he had strongly advocated for throughout his tenure as prime minister—and, moreover, that his presence and leadership would continue to offer a deep contrast to the prime ministers of larger nation states. However...