Vavaʻu Nobles' constituency
| Vavaʻu Nobles | |
|---|---|
|
Constituency for the Legislative Assembly of Tonga | |
| Region | Vavaʻu |
| Electorate | 8 |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1914? |
| Number of members | 2 |
| Member(s) |
Lord Tuʻilakepa; Lord Tuʻiʻafitu |
Vavaʻu is an electoral constituency which sends two representatives to the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. It covers the eponymous region and island chain.[1]
Since its inception in 1875, the Assembly has consisted in representatives of the people and in members of the nobiity. Following constitutional reforms in 2010, designed to strengthen democracy in the kingdom, the nobility elect nine representatives, while the people elect seventeen. The nobles' constituency in Vavaʻu thus overlaps with three single-seat peoples' constituencies.[1]
Members of the nobility whose title is attached to lands in the constituency may vote there, and be elected as the constituency's representatives. Nobles do not formally stand as candidates, however, and never belong to any political party. There are eight titles of nobility attached to Vavaʻu: Fakatulolo, Fulivai, Luani, Tuʻiʻafitu, Tuʻilakepa, Tuita, ʻUlukalala, and Veikune. All are currently attributed, giving the constituency a full electorate of eight.[1][2]
History, recent elections and members
The constituency as such did not exist for the first Assembly in 1875. At that time, there were twenty nobles in all the kingdom, and they all sat in the Assembly, along with twenty elected peoples' representatives; the islands of Vavaʻu were associated with four titles of nobility. As the number of titles of nobility was increased by successive monarchs, a constitutional amendment in 1914 provided that the nobles would henceforth elect seven among them to represent them; the number of peoples' representatives was also decreased to seven.[3][4] The nobles' constituency of Vavaʻu, as such, may have been established at this time.
Records of elections are sparse. In the 1996 general election, the Honourable Fulivai and the Honourable Veikune were elected; there is no further information.[5] Nor is there any information for the 1999, 2002 or 2005 general election results. In the 2008 election, before nobles were restricted to voting only in the constituency associated with their lands, fifteen votes were cast; Honourable Luani and Honourable Tuʻilakepa were elected with three votes each.[6] Lord Luani died in office in May 2010, and it was thus his successor to the title who voted in the November 2010 election.[7] With the number of voters reduced to eight, the electorate was split evenly between two nobles, who were thus both elected.[8][9]
Members of Parliament
Prior to 1996
- no information
Since 1996
| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Lord Fulivai | none | Lord Veikune | none | ||
| 1999, 2002, 2005 | ? | ? | ||||
| 2008 | Lord Luani | none | Lord Tuʻilakepa | none | ||
| 2010 | Lord Tuʻiʻafitu | none | ||||
Election results
2010
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Lord Tuʻilakepa | 4 | 50% | +30% | |
| Independent | Lord Tuʻiʻafitu | 4 | 50% | +36.7% | |
| Majority | 4 | 50% | |||
| Majority | 4 | 50% | |||
| Lord Tuʻilakepa hold | Swing | +30% | |||
| Lord Tuʻiʻafitu gain from Lord Luani | Swing | +36.7% | |||
2008
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Lord Luani | 3 | 20% | ||
| Independent | Lord Tuʻilakepa | 3 | 20% | ||
| Independent | Lord Fakatulolo | 2 | 13.3% | ||
| Independent | Lord Fulivai | 2 | 13.3% | ||
| Independent | Lord Tuita | 2 | 13.3% | ||
| Independent | Lord Tuʻiʻafitu | 2 | 13.3% | ||
| Independent | Prince ʻUlukalala | 1 | 6.7% | ||
| Majority | 1 | 6.7% | |||
| Majority | 1 | 6.7% | |||
References
- 1 2 3 "Nobles prepare for Elections of district electoral representatives", Tongan Ministry of Information, 17 November 2010
- ↑ "Nobles", government of Tonga
- ↑ "The History of the Tongan Constitution", Sione Latukefu, Tongan government
- ↑ "History of our Constitution", Tongan government
- ↑ Tonga Chronicle, February 1996, p.11
- ↑ "Former Speaker Tu'iha'angana loses seat in Nobles election", Matangi Tonga, 23 April 2008
- ↑ "Noble Luani dies suddenly in Vava'u", Matangi Tonga, 12 May 2010
- ↑ "Vaea and Tu'ilakepa to enter House in Nobles seats", Matangi Tonga, 25 November 2010
- ↑ "Crown Prince not elected as Noble Representative", Taimi Media Network, 1 December 2010