Tonga elects a new prime minister following the sudden resignation of his predecessor | Government news

“Aisake Walu Eke, a former finance minister, is set to lead the Pacific nation until the November 2025 elections.

Tonga elected a new leader in a secret ballot in parliament, two weeks after the previous prime minister was suddenly ousted resignedafter a power struggle with the Pacific nation's royal family.

Veteran politician Issake Valu Eke secured 16 votes against his opponent Viliami Latu's eight in Tuesday's vote.

Valu Eke, who will be formally sworn in as prime minister in February, was first elected to parliament in 2010. and was Minister of Finance between 2014 and 2017.

He will be in office for less than a year before the South Pacific island nation of 105,000 people holds its next election in November 2025.

Tonga's parliament consists of 17 legislators elected by the public and nine nobles elected by a group of hereditary chiefs. Two MPs failed to vote.

Siaosi Sovaleni resigned as prime minister two weeks ago after a clash with Tonga's powerful King Tupou VI, leading to speculation of growing divide between the monarch and his government.

Oxford-educated Sovaleni, who has been prime minister since 2021, resigned just hours before facing a no-confidence vote led by Eke. A statement on Tonga's parliament's Facebook page said the prime minister had left “for the good of the country and to move Tonga forward.”

Sovaleni's tenure has been marked by intermittent tensions between Tonga's monarchy and elected lawmakers in a fledgling democracy that saw reforms in 2010 shift power from the royal family and nobles to ordinary citizens.

Tonga changed its constitution after pro-democracy protests in 2006. escalated into riots that left parts of the capital Nuku'alofa in smoking ruins.

King Tupou VI, Tonga's head of state, retains significant powers, including the right to dissolve parliament, appoint judges and veto legislation.

Tourism-dependent Tonga is struggling to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, growing threats from climate change and a catastrophic volcanic eruption and tsunami in 2022 that devastated coastal resorts, homes and businesses around the country's 171 islands.

The debt-ridden island kingdom owes China's Export Bank about $130 million – almost a third of its gross domestic product – which was lent to help rebuild after the 2006 riots. Payments on that loan were supposed to start increasing this year.