Tonga Crown Prince Tupouto'a Ulukalala with previous prime minister and current MP Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Lydia Lewis
Tonga's Crown Prince is set to continue as the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence in the new government.
New prime minister Lord Fakafanua confirmed his pick for the portfolios to RNZ on Monday. It is the first announcement of his new cabinet.
Once he finalises the lineup, it must then be submitted to King Tupou VI for approval and appointment.
Crown Prince Tupouto'a Ulukalala is the King's son and heir to Tonga's throne. He is also married to Fakafanua's sister. He first took charge of the defence and foreign affairs portfolios in January under former prime minister Dr 'Aisake Eke.
Like Eke, Fakafanua has appointed him from outside of parliament. According to the Constitution, up to four ministers can be appointed to Cabinet in this way. These appointments increase the size of the legislative assembly, which has a base of 26 elected representatives (17 peoples' representatives and 9 nobles' representatives) from the general election.
Any ministers appointed from outside parliament have the same rights and responsibilities as elected representatives, however they cannot vote in a vote-of-no-confidence against the prime minister.
Fakafanua said he hoped to finalise the rest of his cabinet nominations before Christmas. He told RNZ Pacific he wanted to unite parliament by choosing the best of his fellow MPs to form a cabinet - including those who didn't support him to be prime minister. Fakafanua won last week's vote for prime minister among his fellow elected representatives against Eke 16 votes to 10.