Aisake Eke elected as Tonga’s new Prime Minister

Aisake Valu Eke was elected as Prime Minister of Tonga on Tuesday. He will replace Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, who resigned on December 9. Valu Eke, who will be officially sworn in as Prime Minister in February, was first elected to parliament in 2010 and served as minister of finance between 2014 and



2017.

He will be in office for less than a year before the South Pacific island nation of 105,000 people holds its next election in November 2025. Tonga’s Parliament consists of 17 lawmakers elected by the public and nine who are nobles, elected by a group of hereditary chiefs. Two members of Parliament were unable to vote.