Tonga

Legislative Assembly

Political system
Monarchy
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Fale Alea (Legislative Assembly)
Chamber name
Fale Alea (Legislative Assembly)
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
4

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 2014
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Asia-Pacific Group

Speaker

Official title
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
Speaker
Lord Fakafanua (Male)
Date of birth: 20 Mar 1985
Term
18 Dec 2017
Additional information

Elected on 18 Dec. 2017, re-elected on 15 Dec. 2021.

Speaker terms

Click for historical data

Secretary general

Official title
Clerk
Secretary General
Gloria L Guttenbeil-Pole'o (Female)
Term
28 Jan 2013
Notes

Appointed on 28 Jan. 2013.

Members

Statutory number of members
30

Notes:

Indirectly elected members: nine nobles

In accordance with Clause 59 of the 2010 Constitution, the Legislative Assembly is composed of representatives of the nobles (currently 9), representatives of the people (currently 17) and all members of the Cabinet. The Cabinet may include no more than four people who are not elected representatives (Clause 51). The Legislative Assembly may thus comprise up to 30 members.

The new Cabinet, formed in December 2021, includes one member who was not elected to the Legislative Assembly. This currently brings the total number of Legislative Assembly members to 27.

Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
17
Indirectly elected members
9
Other members
1
Current number of members
28
Men
26
Women
2
Percentage of women
7.1%
Statutory number of members per country
30
Population (in thousands)
104
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
3,467

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
60.5
(2021-12)
Youngest member
Lord Fakafanua (Male)
Youngest member (years)
36
Oldest member
Hon. William Clive Edwards (Male)
Oldest member (years)
80
Number of members, by age (2021-12)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 0 1 0 2 13 7 2 0 0 25
Female 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2
Totals per age interval 0 0 1 0 2 14 8 2 0 0 27
Total <= 45: 1 Total >= 46: 26
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
3.7% 4% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
3.7% 4% 0.0%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Yes
Other groups
-

Notes: Nine seats are reserved for nobles

Electoral quota for women
No
Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No