Tonga is starting the new year with a new prime minister. Parliament elected him in a special session on Christmas Eve.
ʻAisake Eke assumes office less than a year before the South Pacific nation of 105,000 people is scheduled to hold its next election.
A former finance minister, Eke defeated the only other candidate, a trade minister who was nominated by the current government. They both addressed parliament for about 20 minutes before the results were announced on Christmas Eve.
Tourism-dependent Tonga has struggled to rebound from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, growing threats from climate change, and a destructive 2022 volcanic eruption and tsunami. That disaster battered beachfront resorts, homes and businesses around the country’s 170 islands.
Tonga’s parliament consists of 17 lawmakers elected by the public and nine who are nobles, elected by a group of hereditary chiefs.
Eke's predecessor, Siaosi Sovaleni, resigned in December ahead of a no-confidence vote by the parliament. That ended a period of tense relations between his government and Tonga’s king.
Eke initiated the motion for the no-confidence vote in Sovaleni, and will be officially sworn in at the next parliament session in February.
