Page 323 - A READY RECKONER

tonga*

H.E. Rt. Hon. Lord Dalgety Q.C.
Chairman, Electoral Commission

part i part ii

CoUNtrY ProfiLE LEgisLAtivE sYstEM

1. Country Name LEGISLATURE
TONGA
1. Structure of National Legislature
2. Official Name Unicameral
Kingdom of Tonga
3. Government 2. Names of the Houses in vernacular and English
Constitutional Monarchy Legislative Assembly
4. Head of the Government 3. Total no. of members in each house elected/
Prime Minister: Samiuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva nominated
(up to 30 seats; - 26 for the 2017-19 term); 17
5. Head of the State people’s representatives directly elected in single-
King Tupou VI seat constituencies by simple majority vote, and 9
indirectly elected by hereditary leaders; members
6. Capital serve 3-year terms)
Nuku’alofa
7. Currency 4. Popular House
Tongan pa‘anga Legislative Assembly
8. Ethnic Groups (with %age population) 5. Type of Electoral System
Tongan 97%, part-Tongan 0.8%, other 2.2%, First Past the Post- only one round of voting.
unspecified (2016 est.)
part iii
9. Date of Independence and from which Country
4 June 1970 (from UK protectorate) ELECtorAL sYstEM
10. Date of adoption of Democratic Constitution
4 November 1875 (A) ELECTION MANAGEMENT BODy
11. Language (s) 1. Name of the EMB(S)
Tongan and English 76.8%, Tongan, English, and Electoral Commission, Kingdom of Tonga.
other language 10.6%, Tongan only (official) 8.7%,
English only (official) 0.7%, other 1.7%, none 2.2% 2. Website Address (#)
(2016 est.)
12. Literacy Levels 3. Nature of EMB
99.39% Independent

AU-5U-5
# Web Address: the Electoral Commission presently has no website, the old one has been A 303 *Draft. Updated by the respective EMB
removed and a new one should be in place by Quarter 1 of 2021. There will be a new address,
not yet finalized.
00 A-WEB Book-1.indb 303 18-09-2020 15:42:46