Though the monarch is no longer the chief executive authority, he retains significant powers, including the ability to veto legislation and dissolve the parliament. King ʻAhoʻeitu Tupou VI came to the throne in 2012 and is known to hold more conservative views than his late brother and predecessor, George Tupou V.

The prime minister, who chooses the cabinet, is formally appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the parliament. Veteran democracy campaigner ʻAkilisi Pōhiva, who initially took office in 2014, died in 2019 after a long illness; he was succeeded by then finance minister Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa, who formed a cabinet that included commoners and members of the nobility.

Following the November 2021 general elections, a 16-member majority in the new parliament chose Siaosi Sovaleni as prime minister. He defeated ʻAisake Eke, a candidate supported by outgoing prime minister Tuʻiʻonetoa. The new 12-member cabinet included only one member from the nobility.

The unicameral Legislative Assembly (Fale Alea) consists of 17 members who are directly elected by commoners in single-member districts, nine noble members elected by their peers across five districts, and up to four additional members whom the prime minister may appoint to the cabinet from outside the parliament and who hold their seats ex officio. The speaker is appointed from among the noble members on the recommendation of the assembly.

Seventy-five candidates registered to contest the 2021 general elections, which were the country’s fourth since the democratic reforms of 2010. Nine of the 17 people’s representatives elected were new members, as were three of the nine nobles’ representatives.

By-elections were held in November 2022 to fill seats that had been vacated earlier in the year after three members of Parliament were convicted on bribery charges.

The Electoral Commission administers elections competently and fairly, though the framework for parliamentary elections reserves nine seats for the holders of noble titles.

There are no major restrictions on political competition. Lawmakers are also known to shift their allegiances; after former prime minister Pōhiva’s death in 2019, four lawmakers who were associated with the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands defected to the new Tonga People’s Party, effectively leaving the Democratic Party in opposition by year’s end.

Rival coalitions led by Pōhiva’s popularly elected allies and more conservative politicians from the nobility have alternated in government in recent years, though Tu’i’onetoa governed with support from a mixture of popularly elected and noble members. Sovaleni’s election as prime minister in 2021 represented another change of government, as his only opponent, ʻAisake Eke, was backed by the outgoing prime minister.

The monarchy, the nobility, and the country’s churches exert considerable political influence. In the months leading up to the 2021 elections, Tonga’s king repeatedly expressed his displeasure with the performance of the parliament. That September, the king criticized officials for lack of action in response to the illegal drug trade, and that October he addressed a national symposium on the drug crisis, potentially signaling an increase in the monarch’s political involvement. However, such public criticisms of the government have not continued under the Sovaleni administration.

Women have the same formal political rights as men, but no women won seats in the 2021 parliamentary elections, down from two in the previous legislature. One woman was appointed in December to serve as minister of foreign affairs and tourism. Cultural biases tend to discourage women’s political participation, and women cannot inherit noble titles, meaning the seats reserved for nobility in the parliament are effectively reserved for men.

Members of ethnic minority groups face similar obstacles, though the population is mostly homogeneous, and many members of the small Chinese minority have been able to obtain citizenship and its associated political rights.

The elected prime minister and his cabinet largely control the formulation and implementation of government policy, but the king continues to rely on the Privy Council—whose members he appoints himself—for advice regarding the use of his constitutional powers. The Privy Council operates like a shadow government, facilitating a continuing political role for the monarch.

Corruption and abuse of office are serious problems. While public officials and leaders of state-owned companies are sometimes held to account for bribery and other malfeasance, anticorruption mechanisms are generally weak and lacking in resources.

Numerous high-profile politicians and government officials were convicted of corruption charges during 2022. In May, Tongan courts convicted three high-ranking politicians of bribing voters during the 2021 election campaign and declared their elections void. All three ministers—deputy prime minister Poasi Tei, finance minister Tatafu Moeaki, and internal affairs minister Sangster Saulala—were removed from their parliamentary seats after the Supreme Court dismissed their appeals in August.

In April 2022, former prime minister Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa was convicted of bribing voters during the 2021 election period; following the verdict, the court voided Tuʻiʻonetoa’s 2021 election. Tuʻiʻonetoa was convicted of additional bribery charges in June 2022. Both convictions were overturned on appeal in August, allowing Tuʻiʻonetoa to keep his seat in the parliament.

Score Change: The score improved from 2 to 3 due to a pattern of successful prosecutions against high-ranking politicians for election-related bribery and other offenses.

Tonga does not have a law to guarantee public access to government information, which can be difficult to obtain in practice, and officials are not legally obliged to disclose their assets and income. The government has at times resisted public scrutiny of pending policies or auditor general’s reports.

The constitution guarantees freedom of the press, and a variety of news outlets operate independently, including online. However, politicians have a history of exerting pressure on the media in response to critical coverage.

In 2020, the parliament passed a law on cyberbullying known as the Electronic Communication Abuse Offences Act, to which the king gave his formal assent in 2021. The law called for fines and prison terms of up to three years for the use of a communication platform to abuse, harass, or otherwise harm another person, raising concerns that it could be enforced in a way that restricts journalistic activity or personal expression.

Constitutional protections for religious freedom are generally upheld in practice. Religious groups are not required to register, but those that do receive various benefits. There are some restrictions on commercial activity on Sundays in keeping with a constitutional recognition of the Christian sabbath.

Academic freedom is generally unrestricted. While there have been reports of self-censorship to avoid friction with the government in the past, no incidents of political interference have been reported in recent years. In 2021, the parliament passed legislation to merge existing publicly owned tertiary institutions into Tonga’s first national university.

The government is not known to monitor personal communications.

The constitution protects freedom of assembly, and demonstrations in recent years have generally proceeded peacefully.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have not reported harassment or other restrictions by the authorities, but the civil society sector in Tonga remains relatively small and has limited influence.

Score Change: The score improved from 3 to 4 because NGOs are generally free to engage in human rights– and democracy-related work.

Workers have the legal right to organize in trade unions, but implementing regulations have never been issued, meaning the country’s various de facto unions generally operate as associations.

The king retains authority over judicial appointments and dismissals. The Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel, a committee of the Privy Council, provides advice on appointments, including for the lord chancellor, who has responsibility for administering the courts. The king in Privy Council has final jurisdiction over cases in the land court relating to hereditary estates and titles.

The judiciary is regarded as largely independent, but the royally appointed attorney general has previously been accused of interfering with judicial rulings.

Due process provisions and safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention are typically respected by the authorities. However, there is no mechanism to guarantee access to counsel for indigent defendants.

The police commissioner, Shane McLennan, an Australian, was sworn into office in May 2022. The Police Act of 2010 gives control over the appointment of the police commissioner to the king’s Privy Council, which has raised tensions with elected officials.

Prison conditions are generally adequate, police brutality is rare, but crime rates have risen in recent years, largely due to the country’s drug crisis. A number of police officers accused of misconduct have been investigated, dismissed, or convicted of crimes in recent years. However, public concern has increasingly focused on security problems including organized crime affecting the Chinese community, drug-related petty crime, and the country’s growing role as a destination and production point—not just a transit point—for illegal drug trafficking.

The constitution includes a general provision for equality before the law, and this is upheld in many respects. However, women still face some forms of discrimination, including in land and inheritance laws and with regard to employment.

Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized, though the ban is not actively enforced. The May 2021 murder of an LGBT+ rights activist prompted renewed calls for a repeal of the law; the man suspected of committing the murder pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.

There are no significant constraints on freedom of movement or the ability to change one’s place of residence or employment. Beginning in March 2020, police enforced temporary movement restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19; the first confirmed case in the country was reported in October 2021. More than 16,000 confirmed cases and 12 deathswere recorded in 2022.

The January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano and the resulting tsunamis caused significant destruction and led to the displacement of nearly 2,400 people.

The legal framework generally supports private business activity. However, individuals cannot own or sell land outright, as all land is technically the property of the king. Land rights, once granted by nobles or directly by the crown through an allotment system, can only be leased or inherited, and while women can obtain leases, they are not eligible to receive or inherit land allotments.

Personal social freedoms are typically respected. However, domestic violence remains a problem despite state and civil society efforts to prevent it, and girls as young as 15—the legal minimum age for marriage with parental permission—are sometimes compelled by their parents to marry. The law does not recognize same-sex marriages or unions.

The population generally has access to economic opportunities and protection from abusive working conditions, though enforcement of labor laws is affected by resource limitations, and some employers have violated workers’ rights.