The by-election for a replacement for the seat occupied by the late Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa for Tongatapu 10 was held on Thursday 13 July. Five candidates were vying for the vacant seat.
Kapelieli Lanumata of Lapaha won convincingly with 870 votes from all the 13 districts of the Constituency. He took the highest votes of 555 from his village of Lapaha.
Matani Nifofa of Kolonga came second with 621 votes, followed by Fotu Fisi’iahi of Niutoua with 507 votes. Daniel Fale of Lapaha came in fourth with 139 votes, and Senimili Tu’i’onetoa Fonua of Makaunga came fifth with 122 votes.
There were 4,683 people who had registered to vote; less than 50% ended up voting. It is not illegal in Tonga to refrain from voting.
The high numbers for Lanumata and Nifofa are indicative that Tongatapu 10 has become a constituency with strong leanings toward the PTOA party. Nifofa has been a PTOA member but chose to run independently during the by-election. Lanumata was runner up to Tu’i’onetoa in the 2021 election.
Lanumata’s win added another opposition member to Parliament. He campaigned strongly as a member of the PTOA political party. This means there are now five PTOA members in Parliament, in addition to other independent opposition members.
Lanumata’s victory maybe quite significant in the upcoming Vote of No Confidence (VONC) pending filing in the next week or so. Opposition members have waited until the legal time for a VONC which is 18 months from the day of the new Prime Minister and his government taking over administration. The 18 months was completed in June.
But observers also believe that the filing of the vote of no confidence waited until the Tongatapu 10 by-election was over.
