Friday, October 15, 2010

Monarchy Profile: Tonga

Name: The Kingdom of Tonga
Reigning Monarch: His Majesty King ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho
Reigning Family: House of Tupou
Status: Tonga is a constitutional monarchy in the south Pacific Ocean and the only sovereign monarchy in the Pacific. Tonga was formerly known as the Friendly Islands after being given that name by the famous British explorer Captain James Cook in 1773. Although Tonga is a newly constitutional monarchy the person of the king, formerly known as the paramount chief of the islands, is a very revered figure and any insult or derogatory comments directed towards him would be considered a national shame. Formerly a British protectorate, Tonga was never colonized by a foreign power and joined the British Commonwealth in 1970. In the past the Tongan monarch held extensive legislative and judicial powers, however, the current monarch promised prior to his coronation to renounce these and defer to his prime minister on most state matters. Nonetheless a troublesome “pro-democracy” presence of agitators remains and the former King was obliged to sell off most of his primary sources of wealth. The current King of Tonga came to the throne on March 18, 2012 upon the death of his brother George Tupou V.

2 comments:

  1. The Pro-Democracy crowd will not be happy untkil there are no Kingsd and we are "Free" to be ruled over by conmen who have money and political connections. I'd rather the power lost to rhe Tongolese King be restored to him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the King should try and be like his father and actually look for ways to make the Kingdom better. The first step is obviously changing the government. Although I would have preferred Tonga to be a Constitutional Monarchy, I think the new changes will be better for the economy. Ministers of Tonga should try and make relevant changes and aim to improve standards of living. With minimal income, Tonga needs to boost its trading organizations and all other income related activities e.g. tourism.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...