When the Tongan monarchy relinquished much of its power in 2008, it seemed the path to a working parliamentary democracy would be relatively straightforward. Yet only now has democracy activist 'Akilisi Pohiva become the first commoner elected as the nation's Prime Minister. That represents an encouraging step for Tonga and due reward for the long-standing patience and sterling endeavour of Mr Pohiva.
The road ahead will not be easy, however. Just as he has had to bide his time before becoming Prime Minister, he will be wise not to rush further political reform. Miffed members of the hereditary nobility are waiting for any stumble and he must also pay heed to the essential conservatism and stratified nature of Tongan society. As tempting as it will be for Mr Pohiva to press on with his plans, he must acknowledge the reality of those obstacles.
That will be frustrating for him. Mr Pohiva has spent more than 30 years trying to reduce the power of the monarchy and the nobility. This saw him jailed in 1996 for contempt of Parliament. Later, after the first elections under the new constitution in 2010, he was denied a prime ministership that should rightly have been his. His Democratic Party won 12 of the 17 commoner seats. There was no doubt who the Tongan people wanted as the first prime minister elected by Parliament. But the nobles, who have nine reserved seats, were able to convince the five independent MPs to see things their way, and Mr Pohiva was denied.
Commendably, he accepted this shattering example of submissiveness to the nobility. His immediate response was to call for the nobles to work with the people's representatives in a government of unity. Understandably, such sentiment soon gave way to criticism of the Government, not least that it was misappropriating funds. Lord Tu'ivakano, the Prime Minister, only narrowly survived a vote of no confidence. After elections last November, Mr Pohiva controlled nine of the people's representatives' seats. This time, the nobility was unable to stop him winning a secret ballot for the prime ministership by 15 votes to 11.
Again, Mr Pohiva has sought the co-operation of the noble representatives in Parliament. But, ultimately, he wants to secure direct election of the prime minister and to allow the public to vote for the nine noble seats. As much as these represent the logical conclusion of the path to parliamentary democracy, they are not notions that will sit comfortably with most of the nobility.
