The 2010 Tongan Legislative Assembly was established following the

2010 elections This is a list of elections that were held in 2010. * 2010 United Nations Security Council election * 2010 national electoral calendar * 2010 local electoral calendar Africa * 2010 Burkinabé presidential election * 2010 Burundian Senate election * ...

, the first under a new system which saw the majority of seats elected by universal

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

. The Taimi Media Network described it as "Tonga's first democratically elected Parliament". The Speaker of the 2010 Assembly was Lord Lasike, until he lost his seat in Parliament on 18 July 2012, following conviction for illicit ammunitions ownership. He was replaced as Speaker by Lord Fakafanua. The Deputy Speaker was initially Lord Tuʻiʻafitu, until he was appointed Minister for Health on 2 July 2012, whereupon he was replaced by Lord Tu'iha'teiho.

Initial party standings

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" width=420, Parties ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands The Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands () is a political party in Tonga. The party's leader at its foundation was 'Akilisi Pohiva. The party was launched in September 2010, and included several sitting People's Representatives who were p ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 10,953 , style="text-align:right;" , 28.49 , style="text-align:right;" , 12 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Independents , style="text-align:right;" , 25,873 , style="text-align:right;" , 67.30 , style="text-align:right;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;" , People's Democratic Party , style="text-align:right;" , 934 , style="text-align:right;" , 2.43 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Sustainable Nation-Building Party , style="text-align:right;" , 519 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.35 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Tongan Democratic Labor Party , style="text-align:right;" , 168 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.44 , style="text-align:right;" , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Noble representatives , style="text-align:right;" , 54 , style="text-align:right;" , — , style="text-align:right;" , 9 , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9", Total , width="75" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 38,447 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="30" style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 26 , - , colspan=4, Source:

Members

Initial MPs

Summary of changes

* On 8 December 2010, Sosefo Vakata, People's Representative for Ongo Niua 17, left the

, to sit as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. * On 24 July 2011,

Kaveinga Faʻanunu Kaveinga Faʻanunu (July 30, 1962 – July 24, 2011) was a Tongan politician Having a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry, he worked for nine years in various "forestry, agroforestry and managerial" positions in the government's forestry depa ...

, People's Representative for

Tongatapu 9 Tongatapu 9 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 by ...

, a first term MP from the

, died of cancer. A by-election for Tongatapu 9 was held on 15 September 2011, and the seat was retained by the Democratic Party, through its candidate

Falisi Tupou Falisi Tupou is a Tongan journalist and politician. He is a senior editor at '' Keleʻa'', the newspaper of the pro-democracy movement, owned by ʻAkilisi Pohiva. In April 2007, he was arrested and charged with sedition over an editorial in whi ...

. * On 18 July 2012, Lord Lasike, Nobles' Representative for

ʻEua ʻEua is an island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is close to Tongatapu, but forms a separate administrative division. It has an area of , and a population in 2021 of 4,903 people. The island leads in agriculture, tourism, and some of the forest ...

and

Speaker of the Assembly Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

, lost his seat by order of the King in application of the Constitution, following his conviction in court for illegal possession of firearms munitions. He was replaced by Lord Nuku in a by-election on 2 August. * Lord Fusituaʻa, Nobles' Representative for the

Niuas Niua is a division of the Kingdom of Tonga, namely the northernmost group of islands. It consists of three islands (Niuafoʻou, Niuatoputapu and Tafahi) which together have an area of 71.69 km2 and a population of 1,150. The largest village i ...

, died on 24 April 2014. His son Mataʻiʻulua ʻi Fonuamotu inherited his title on 6 May. The new Lord Fusituaʻa won his father's seat in Parliament through a by-election on 22 May."Lord Fusitu'a takes father's seat"
''Matangi Tonga'', 22 May 2014

References

{{reflist Politics of Tonga Political organisations based in Tonga