Harry Percival Vete (also known as Hale Vete) was a Tongan businessman, politician, and member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. [1] He was an early member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tonga.
Vete trained as a lawyer, and started a business in 1934. By 1949 he owned two stores, three trucks, and a taxi service. [1] He was elected to the Legislative Assembly as one of three people's Representatives for Tongatapu at the 1948 Tongan general election. [2] He was re-elected in the 1954 election. [3]
Vete and his wife were the first Tongans to go to the temple of the Church. Vete was baptized in 1926. [4] In 1949 Vete, his wife, and child traveled to the United States where they were sealed in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. [1] [5]
The history of Tonga is recorded since the ninth century BC, when seafarers associated with the Lapita diaspora first settled the islands which now make up the Kingdom of Tonga. Along with Fiji and Samoa, the area served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region known as Polynesia. Ancient Tongan mythologies recorded by early European explorers report the islands of 'Ata and Tongatapu as the first islands having been hauled to the surface from the deep ocean by Maui.
Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV was the King of Tonga, from the death of his mother, Queen Sālote Tupou III, in 1965 until his own death in 2006.
The Legislative Assembly of Tonga is the unicameral legislature of Tonga. The assembly has 26 members in which 17 members elected by majority of the people for a 5-year term in multi-seat constituencies via the single non-transferable vote system. There are 9 members elected by the 33 hereditary nobles of Tonga. The Assembly is controlled by the speaker of the House who is elected by majority of the elected members of Parliament and constitutionally appointed by the king.
John Holbrook Groberg has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1976. He is the author of The Eye of the Storm, and was the protagonist in the movie made from the book titled The Other Side of Heaven.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Tonga, with Methodists having the most adherents.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Tonga since 1891. The Tongan Mission was organized in 1916. However, due to anti-Mormon sentiment and government policies, the LDS Church did not grow steadily in Tonga until 1924. Between 1946 and 1956, church leaders published Tongan translations of the scriptures and built a church-sponsored school known as the Liahona School. In 1968, Tonga's first LDS stake was organized and the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple was dedicated in 1983.
Samiuela ʻAkilisi Pōhiva was a Tongan pro-democracy activist and politician. Pohiva, the leader of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI), served as the Prime Minister of Tonga from 2014 to his death in 2019. He was only the fourth commoner to serve as Prime Minister, and the first commoner to be elected to that position by Parliament rather than appointed by the King.
ʻEtuate Lavulavu is a Tongan politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga for Vavaʻu. He was stripped of his seat in 2016 after being convicted of bribery, precipitating the 2016 Vavaʻu 16 by-election. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University–Hawaii followed by a Master of Arts from Brigham Young University in Utah. He publicly claimed to have a PhD from the University of Edenvale, a US diploma mill, and began referring to himself as "Professor".
Fatafehi Fakafānua, known before ascending to his title as Fatafehi Kinikinilau Lolomana‘ia Fakafānua, is a Tongan politician, Lord of the Realm and the Speaker of the Tongan Legislative Assembly. He is the 8th Fakafānua.
General elections were held in Tonga in May 1948.
General elections were held in Tonga on 28 May 1954. An amended electoral law had been passed in 1951 to allow women to vote for the first time in the elections; however, a technical error in the legislation was discovered that meant the franchise could not be extended in time to take effect for the 1954 elections.
General elections were held in Tonga on 27 May 1963.
General elections were held in Tonga in May 1969.
Lupeti Finau was a Tongan civil servant and politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1978 until his death the following year.
General elections were held in Tonga in 1951
Laki Niu is a Tongan judge and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. He was the first Tongan to sit on the Supreme Court of Tonga in over a hundred years.
Princess Mele Siuʻilikutapu of Tonga was a Tongan royal and politician. In 1975 she was elected to the Legislative Assembly, becoming its first female member.
Sione Tapa was a Tongan politician, physician, and philanthropist. He was the first Tongan to graduate with a medical degree. He served as Tonga's Health Minister from 1970 to 1996.
Siaosi ‘Alokuo’ulu Wycliffe Fusitu’a, styled Lord Fusitu’a was a Tongan politician and noble. He was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga from 1990 to 1998.
Charles Henri Vernier was a French Polynesian religious leader, academic, and politician. He led the Maohi Protestant Church for 40 years from 1911 to 1951, and was the first elected representative of French Polynesia to the French legislature.