Sunia Fili
Minister for Police, Prisons and Fire Services
In office
1 May 2012 – 25 June 2012
Prime MinisterSialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō
Preceded byLisiate ʻAkolo
Succeeded bySialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō
Minister of Finance
In office
3 January 2011 – 1 May 2012
Preceded byAfuʻalo Matoto
Succeeded byLisiate ʻAkolo
Member of Parliament
for ʻEua 11[1]
In office
11 March 1999 – 27 November 2014
Preceded byTu'ipulotu L. Lauaki
Succeeded byTevita Lavemaau
Personal details
Political partyHuman Rights and Democracy Movement
Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands

Sunia Manu Fili (born 1 December 1965)[2] is a Tongan politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a former member of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement and the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands.

Biography

Fili graduated with a BA from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. He worked as a lawyer and high school teacher before entering politics. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly as People's Representative for ʻEua at the 1999 election.[2]

In September 2009 Fili was the only member of the Tongan Parliament to support the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.[3]

Fili was re-elected MP for the constituency of ʻEua in the 2010 election. He was appointed Minister of Finance in Lord Tuʻivakano's Cabinet,[4] to which was added the portfolio of Inland Revenue on September 1, 2011.[5] In a Cabinet reshuffle on 1 May 2012, Fili became Minister for Police, Prisons and Fire Services; Lisiate ‘Akolo was made Minister of Finance, and Sosefo Vakata was given the Revenue portfolio.[6][7] Following the reshuffle Fili allegedly passed a letter from his predecessor, Lisiate ʻAkolo, which criticised other ministers and suggested creating Associate Minister posts to weaken the opposition, to Deputy Prime Minister Samiu Vaipulu, who leaked it to the media.[8][9] In late June 2012, Fili - along with two other ministers - resigned from the Cabinet, so as to support a motion of no confidence tabled by the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands against the government.[10]

In July 2014 Fili was dumped as a Democratic Party candidate.[11] He ran as an independent in the 2014 Tongan general election, but was not re-elected. He contested the 2017 election as a candidate for the Langafonua 'a e Masiva, but was also unsuccessful.[12]

In October 2022 he graduated with a law degree from the University of the South Pacific.[13]

References

  1. ↑ ʻEua 11 was technically a new constituency from 2010, but corresponded exactly to the boundaries of the previous electoral constituency for Eua.
  2. 1 2 "Hon. Sunia Fili". parliament of Tonga. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Pesi Fonua (20 October 2009). "House unites in comfort zone of set culture and tradition". Matangi Tonga. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "TONGA PRIME MINISTER NAMES CABINET". Pacific Islands Report. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  5. ↑ "PUBLIC UNAWARE OF TONGA'S GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE". Pacific Islands Report. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  6. ↑ "TONGA TO SHAKE-UP MINISTERS' PORTFOLIOS AGAIN". Pacific Islands Report. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Tonga reshuffles cabinet". RNZ. 23 April 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "Tonga talk of associate ministers goes against constitution". RNZ. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "Police Minister Reshuffle In Tonga Leads To Cabinet Controversy". Pacific Islands Report. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "Three Cabinet Ministers in Tonga resign ahead of confidence motion". RNZ. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Tonga Democratic Party dumps four MPs". RNZ. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "Former Auckland lawyer hoping third time lucky in Tonga poll". RNZ. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "Former 'Eua MP graduates in law". Matangi Tonga. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
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