Tongatapu 3

Tongatapu 3
Constituency for the Legislative Assembly of Tonga
Region	Tongatapu
Current constituency
Created	2010
Number of members	1
Member(s)	Siaosi Sovaleni

Tongatapu 3 is an electoral constituency for the Legislative Assembly in the Kingdom of Tonga. It was established for the November 2010 general election, when the multi-seat regional constituencies for People's Representatives were replaced by single-seat constituencies, electing one representative via the first past the post electoral system. Located on the country's main island, Tongatapu, it encompasses parts of Kolofoʻou and Maʻufanga (districts of the capital city Nukuʻalofa), and the entirety of the villages of Pahu, ʻAmaile, Fasi-moe-afi-ʻa-Tungi, Ngeleʻia, Mataika, and Halaleva.^[1]

Its first ever representative is Sitiveni Halapua, of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands. Halapua, a first time MP, defeated Clive Edwards, an incumbent MP and former Deputy Prime Minister. (Edwards was nonetheless subsequently appointed Minister for Justice, thus obtaining a seat in Parliament ex officio.)^[2][3] For the 2014 election, Halapua was deselected by the party, which endorsed Simote Vea as its candidate to replace him. Vea was defeated by independent candidate Siaosi Sovaleni, resulting in the DPFI losing the seat.^[4][5][6]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Sitiveni Halapua	Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands
	2014	Siaosi Sovaleni	Independent

Election results

2014

Tongan general election, 2014: Tongatapu 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Siaosi Sovaleni	975	34.0	n/a
	(unknown)	Tevita Palu	688	24.0	n/a
	PDP	Clive Edwards	503	17.5	-7.5
	DPFI	Simote Vea	440	15.3	-23.2
	DLP	Mele ‘Amanaki	142	5.0	+1.2
	(unknown)	Gabriella ‘Ilolahia	107	3.7	n/a
	(unknown)	Paula Lavulo	13	0.5	n/a
Turnout			2868
Majority			287	10.0	n/a
	Independent gain from DPFI		Swing	18.7

2010

Tongan general election, 2010: Tongatapu 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DPFI	Sitiveni Halapua	1047	38.5	n/a
	PDP	Clive Edwards	681	25.0	n/a
	(unknown)	Viliami Takau	289	10.6	n/a
	(unknown)	Penisimani Vea	257	9.4	n/a
	(unknown)	David Kaveinga Vaka	191	7.0	n/a
	DLP	Betty Blake	103	3.8	n/a
	(unknown)	Sione ʻUhilamoelangi Liavaʻa	83	3.1	n/a
	(unknown)	Falakiko Karl Taufaeteau	35	1.3	n/a
	(unknown)	Pesalili Kailahi	23	0.8	n/a
	(unknown)	Semisi Nauto Tuapasi ʻAtaʻata	12	0.4	n/a
Turnout			2721
Majority			366	13.5	n/a
	DPFI win (new seat)

References

1. "Tongatapu 2 polling stations", Parliament of Tonga
2. 2010 election results for Tongatapu, Matangi Tonga
3. "Tonga’s prime minister names his cabinet", Radio New Zealand International, 31 December 2010
4. List of Democratic Party candidates in the 2014 election, Koe Kele'a, 25 November 2014
5. "6 members of the Democratic Party will stand as independents", Tonga Daily News, 2 September 2014
6. "Final Results for General Election 2014", Tongan Electoral Commission