Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni abruptly resigned on Monday, stepping down in the wake of a power struggle with the Pacific nation’s royal family.
Sovaleni has butted heads with Tonga’s influential King Tupou VI, fueling speculation of a deepening rift between the royals and his government.
In cryptic remarks delivered before announcing his shock resignation, Sovaleni suggested the country’s nobility was “fearful” of losing its sway.
“I thought this land had been given freedom, but there’s still enslavement,” he told parliament through tears. “I hope there’s a time where we’ll work together. If the nobility can do it and we can work together, we can achieve great things.”
Sovaleni resigned before facing a vote of no confidence brought on by opposition lawmakers on Monday afternoon.
Tonga’s hereditary nobles occupy nine seats in the country’s 26-member legislative assembly.
If the nobles voted as a bloc alongside the opposition, they would have enough numbers to force Sovaleni out.
It was not immediately clear who would replace Oxford-educated Sovaleni, who has been prime minister since 2021.
Veteran politician and longtime rival ‘Aisake Eke loomed as one of the the likely frontrunners.
The line of Tongan kings and queens stretches back more than 1,000 years, according to a government history.
Although the monarchy no longer enjoys the unbridled power of old, it remains one of the most dominant institutions across the Tongan archipelago.
King Tupou VI penned a letter earlier this year saying he no longer had “confidence” in Sovaleni as Tonga’s armed forces minister.
Bad blood
Sovaleni refused to stand down from the portfolio, sparking a tense standoff between two of Tonga’s most powerful figures.
Eventually Sovaleni backed down, delivering a traditional apology to the king and resigning from the armed forces ministry.
Although the details of the disagreement remain a mystery, it appears this was not enough to quell the bad blood between the two.
Tonga overhauled its constitution after pro-democracy protests in 2006, which spiralled into angry riots that left swathes of capital Nuku’alofa in smoking ruins.
At the time, the Tongan king held immense sway as the country’s head of state, head of government, and military commander-in-chief.
Although the monarchy eventually agreed to devolve much of its responsibility to a cabinet of elected lawmakers, its power has not been totally diluted.
The king still has the power to veto legislation, and appoints the prime minister on the advice of the Tongan parliament.
A developing country of some 106,000 people spread across dozens of islands, Tonga’s debt-laden government is seen as particularly vulnerable to economic pressure from China.
The island kingdom owes China’s export bank around $130 million – almost a third of its GDP – which was loaned to help rebuild after the 2006 riots Repayments on that loan were scheduled to start spiking this year.
Sovaleni was first elected to parliament in 2014 and served as deputy prime minister from 2014-17, then became education minister in 2019.
