(Reuters) – Tonga’s King Tupou VI has appointed ‘Aisake Eke as prime minister, a month after he was selected by lawmakers to be the Pacific Island nation’s next leader, a Tonga government statement said on Wednesday.
Former prime minister Siaosi Sovaleni, who had a tense relationship with the monarch, resigned in December saying the move was “for the good of the country”.
Eke, 64, also becomes chairman of the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum, where Tonga has supported a region-wide policing initiative to reduce the group’s reliance on outside security partners.
The nation of 107,000 people has external debt equivalent to 32% of its GDP, of which half is owed to China’s Exim Bank, according to government budget statements.
Eke is a former public servant and finance minister who attended university in Australia and Fiji. He was elected as the member of parliament for Tongatapu No.5 constituency in 2010.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement on Facebook he looked forward to “continued engagement” to support Tonga’s priorities.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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