Sunia Fili

Who is Sunia Fili?

Sunia Manu Fili is a Tongan politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. He is a former member of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement.

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.

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.

Fili was re-elected MP for the constituency of ʻEua in the 2010 election. He was appointed Minister for Finance in Lord Tuʻivakano's Cabinet, to which was added the portfolio of Inland Revenue on September 1, 2011. In a Cabinet reshuffle on 1 May 2012, Fili became Minister for Police, Prisons and Fire Services; Lisiate ‘Akolo was made Minister for Finance, and Sosefo Vakata was given the Revenue portfolio. 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.