Siaosi ‘Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni (born 28 February 1970), styled Hon. Hu‘akavameiliku, is a Tongan politician who 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 2021 until his resignation in 2024. He had previously served as a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

, and from 2014 to 2017, he was deputy prime minister of Tonga. He is the current estate holder of the village of Ha'asini.

Early life

Sovaleni is the son of former Deputy Prime Minister Langi Kavaliku. He attended Timaru Boys' High School in New Zealand and graduated in 1988. He was educated at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

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, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in computer science in 1992. He subsequently completed a

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at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and an

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at the University of the South Pacific in

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. He worked as a public servant for Tonga's Ministry of Finance from 1996 to 2010, before working for the

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and

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. He returned to Tonga in 2013 to work as the Chief Executive in the Ministry of Public Enterprises.

Political career

Sovaleni was first elected to the

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

at the 2014 Tongan general election, and appointed

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and Minister of Environment and Communications in the Cabinet of ʻAkilisi Pōhiva. As Communications Minister, he pushed through two bills allowing for internet

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in 2015. In September 2017, he was sacked for disloyalty for supporting King Tupou VI's decision to sack the Prime Minister, dissolve Parliament and call new elections. He ran in the 2017 Tongan general election and was re-elected as the only non- DPFI MP on Tongatapu. He subsequently contested the premiership with Pohiva, but was defeated by 12 votes to 14. Following the death of ʻAkilisi Pōhiva, Sovaleni supported Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa for prime minister. He was appointed to Tuʻiʻonetoa's Cabinet as Minister for Education and Training. In January 2021, he was bestowed with the chiefly title of Hu’akavameiliku, which had also been held by his father. He was re-elected in the 2021 election while receiving the highest number of votes of all candidates for any seat.

Prime minister (2021–2024)

In post-election negotiations he emerged as one of the two chief contenders for the premiership, along with ʻAisake Eke. On 15 December 2021, he was elected prime minister, defeating Eke with 16 votes. Eke has stated that he will contest the election results in court. He was formally appointed prime minister on 27 December. He named his Cabinet on 29 December 2021, retaining the Education portfolio and in addition taking responsibility for Police and the Armed Forces. On 12 March 2022 he tested positive for

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. On 2 February 2024 while Sovaleni was in New Zealand for medical treatment the king purported to revoke his appointment as armed forces minister, as well as that of foreign affairs minister

Fekitamoeloa ʻUtoikamanu Fekitamoeloa Katoa ʻUtoikamanu (born December 1959) is a Tongan civil servant, diplomat and former Cabinet of Tonga, Cabinet Minister. From 2005 to 2009 she was Tonga's permanent ambassador to the United Nations, and from 2017 to 2021 she was Un ...

. Attorney-General Linda Folaumoetu'i advised the Cabinet that the decision was unconstitutional. On 4 April 2024 Sovaleni announced that he had resigned as Armed Forces Minister while ʻUtoikamanu also resigned from the Cabinet, effective from 28 March. These were seen as a consequence to the King withdrawing his confidence in the two. Sovaleni resigned in December 2024, pre-empting a no-confidence vote in parliament.

References

External links

* * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sovaleni, Siaosi 'Ofakivahafolau 1970 births Alumni of the University of Oxford Deputy prime ministers of Tonga Prime ministers of Tonga Education ministers of Tonga Communication ministers of Tonga Government ministers of Tonga Defence ministers of Tonga Independent politicians in Tonga Living people Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga People from Tongatapu University of Auckland alumni University of the South Pacific alumni Tongan chiefs Ministers of foreign affairs of Tonga People educated at Timaru Boys' High School