Tonga People's Party

In the 2017 general election, the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI) was the only one represented in the Legislative Assembly, obtaining 14 of the 17 seats reserved for the popular vote. For this reason, ʻAkilisi Pōhiva remained in the post of Prime Minister, until his death in 2019. The remaining three seats were held by independent candidates.

As a result of the deaths of the Head of Government and in anticipation of the election of a new one by the Assembly, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa left the government with three other DPFI deputies, and joined to the parliamentary opposition, announcing the creation of the Tonga People's Party, composed of representatives of the Tongan nobility and independent parliamentarians.[1][2]

On 27 September, Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa was elected as Prime Minister. Semisi Sika, the DPFI leader, who until then had held the post on an interim basis, effectively became the leader of the opposition. Tuʻiʻonetoa formed a government and a parliamentary majority made up of eight commoners and nine elected members of the nobility. These seventeen parliamentarians are the founding members of the TPPI.[3][4][5]

On 8 July 2021, during a reception at the Chinese embassy in Nukuʻalofa to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), party leader Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa stated that the TPPI "learn[ed] a lot from the CPC-oriented philosophy.[6]

Defining its fundamental principles as "love, respect, humility and gratitude", the party proposes to reserve certain sectors of activity of the private sector to Tongan citizens (as opposed to foreigners), return to free education, as well as double salaries of educators, and health personnel.[5]