Explainer – The Eke government’s newly passed law—handing full control of Foreign Affairs back to the monarchy—threatens to unravel Tonga’s fragile democratic progress.
This move directly undermines the 2010 reforms that sought to transfer executive power from the palace to Parliament, a hard-won compromise championed by the late King George V himself.
By restoring royal authority over a key ministry, the legislation risks reviving the very “mistakes” the king once warned against: a retreat from accountable governance toward unchecked monarchy.
Pro-democracy reformers always maintained that royal involvement in governance creates an accountability vacuum – the king answers to no one for his use of public funds.
Prior to the Eke Bill’s passage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs operated outside normal oversight structures—unlike the twenty ministries under the Public Service Commission.
This exemption meant its staff avoided the performance reviews applied to other civil servants, creating systemic imbalances.
The Eke Bill—passed without public consultation—follows years of clashes between the Palace and government over control of Foreign Affairs.
This comes after PM Hu’akavameiliku’s legal battle against the king’s secretary, which led the monarch to withdraw confidence from both the Defence Minister’s leadership and former Foreign Minister ‘Utoikamanu.
From Reform To Reversal
Tonga’s 2010 democratic reforms emerged from years of systemic corruption and abuse of power within the monarchy. The movement gained urgency following multiple high-profile scandals:
- The passport sale debacle: Over 8,000 passports illegally sold to foreigners, with US$92 million in proceeds disappearing from U.S. bank accounts. Passport sales let hundreds of Chinese legally immigrate to Tonga, where they now dominate and control many local businesses.
- Royal Tongan Airlines’ collapse: The national carrier failed during King Tupou VI’s tenure as Prime Minister, costing taxpayers about $30 millions.
- Princess Pilolevu’s controversies: Including the unlawful transfer of a $90 million Chinese grant and involvement in Tongasat’s satellite slot allocations.
- Mismanaged Chinese loans: A $120 million post-riot reconstruction loan from China was mishandled during the Sevele government.
These incidents—along with countless opaque, royally controlled projects—left Tongans demanding accountability through democratic reform.
Democracy Eroded By Decree
The His Majesty’s Diplomatic Service Bill 2025, passed on August 5, dissolves the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and replaces it with His Majesty’s Diplomatic Services, placing all diplomatic, consular, and immigration powers under direct royal oversight.
The legislation empowers His Majesty’s Diplomatic Services to create its governing Board, along with provisions for administration, overseas appointments, regulations, and transition protocols.
Critics warn this move dismantles a cornerstone of Tonga’s hard-won democracy, reversing the very reforms King George V once called a “natural development” for the nation.
In a revealing 2010 interview with the ABC’s Bruce Hill, the late king—who voluntarily surrendered absolute executive authority to pave the way for elected governance—spoke passionately about the need for democracy, warning that Tonga could not progress by “repeating the same mistakes.”
Now, his successors and the Eke government appear to be steering the kingdom backward, consolidating unchecked royal power at the expense of transparency and accountability.
Tonga’s fragile democracy—more than a decade in the making—was the result of a combination of King George V’s political vision, the advocacy of the country’s leading scholars that can be traced back to 1970s proposal to Cabinet by former Deputy Prime Minister Langikavaliku, and the efforts of church leaders, spearheaded by Tonga’s Defender of Democracy title holder and former Prime Minister, ‘Akilisi Pōhiva.
“You can’t expect to keep repeating the same mistakes and expect a different result,” King George V cautioned his peers in the nobility who resisted democracy. Today, as the monarchy reclaims control over critical state functions, many fear his warning has gone unheeded—and that Tonga’s fragile democracy may be entering its most precarious chapter yet.
But why did King George V relinquish his executive authority while retaining ceremonial and traditional royal prerogatives?
To answer this, Kaniva News reproduces the monarch’s own words from a pivotal 2010 interview with ABC’s Bruce Hill, conducted as Tonga prepared for democratic reforms.
In this unedited transcript, King George V explains his historic decision—and his vision for a modern Tongan monarchy.
A Monarch’s Democratic Vision
An interview in November 2010 between King George V and ABC broadcaster Bruce Hill about the king’s commitment to transitioning Tonga to democracy is reproduced verbatim below.
His Majesty King George V (HMKGV):
I think it’s the natural development of the original 19th century constitution. It’s an attempt to take the principles of that Constitution and apply them in 21st century idiom, which of course has to be democracy.
Bruce Hill (ABC Broadcaster):
Is it something you particularly support?
HMKGV:
Yes. Yes. I have always wanted to do this for the country, and it’s a very practical idea in that our political life has to travel at the same speed and same level as the development of our economic life.
B Hill:
Is Tonga ready for this kind of more representative system, do you think?
HMKGV:
I believe so because for the past 150 years we have had very democratic institutions, mainly the Churches, like the Christian Churches in Western Europe, even during the middle ages. These are probably the only truly democratic institutions which have existed in the country. For example, Church affairs are discussed freely by the members who elect the officials, and Bishops and Presidents and it’s the one of the institutions in Tonga where a person of relatively humble beginnings can rise to positions of great power and influence by his own talents without autocratic patronage.
B Hill:
What happens to your role as Monarch under the new system? Are your powers diminished or decreased or be simply changed?
HMKGV:
Officially, the sovereign’s power remains unchanged because under our Monarchy we have a unity of power as opposed to a separation of power. The difference in the future is that I shall not be able to exercise any of my power, at will. All the Sovereign’s powers must be exercised solely on the advice of the Prime Minister in most things, and in judicial matters, it’s the Law Lords who advise on the exercise of power. In that case I suppose, we are different from other nominal monarchies which retained their trappings of monarchies but actually govern themselves as republics.
B Hill:
Historically Kings have resisted diminution of their powers. Why do you think this is the way to go?
HMKGV:
Well, like others of my generation my education has generally been a liberal –European education and I feel sure that without a European education …er with a solely Tongan education, I don’t believe I would have been able to make these changes.
B Hill:
The events of 2006 when a Pro-Democracy rally got out of hand and there was rioting and burning and looting and much of the Central Business District of Nuku’alofa was destroyed. What role did that event play in getting this kind of political change? Did it speed things up or were these changes going to happen now anyway?
HMKGV:
There were changes …I think the changes would have happened anyway. But what the riots did for me … it vindicated my belief in the ‘systems’ approach to change …which was compartmentalising each stage of the revolution, and putting each stage under the charge or tutelage of different groups in society and government.
B Hill:
After seeing the destruction of what’s called 16/11 did you feel under more pressure to move towards this change?
HMKGV:
I didn’t feel under pressure from below. But the pressure I felt was the pressure not to change which was exerted on me from my own class of society.
B Hill:
What form did that pressure take?
HMKGV:
People expressed to me their views … my fellow Nobility expressed to me their views, that perhaps Tonga was far better off as it was before under the old system. Well I had a simple answer to that … and that was, you can’t expect to keep repeating the same mistakes and expect a different result because that would be totally unreasonable.
B Hill:
Tonga is a very traditional kind of a system and the role of the monarchy is very important in society. Will this political change mean a change in relationship between you and the Tongan people?
HMKGV:
I don’t believe so. The relationship between the Monarchy in Tonga and the people is one of blood … and indeed with the Nobility as well. In that every Tongan … there is a Tongan phrase that literally means, “Every Tongan has a road to the Palace”, which means that if you go back far enough in your ancestry you can find that you are related to this Nobleman or that one or even to the King. In the past the basis for this relationship has been one relative speaking to another… that’s how they felt about it.
B Hill:
Is this new system ideal as it is or do you think there might be more change further down the road?
HMKGV:
Well what we have done is we have given it our best shot and said, this is the model we have come up with … that’s the present government and I. But I hope that in the future if the government or the parliament, find that what we’ve put up or what we’ve proposed is inadequate in any way that they will feel free to make the necessary adjustments …you know…. It’s not an unchangeable thing. I think our constitution should be kept alive with minor changes and adjustments to suit life … as the country progresses.
You can follow this link to listen to the interview
