| Mateni Tapueluelu | |
| Office: | Minister for Police, Fire & Emergency Services |
| Primeminister: | ʻAkilisi Pōhiva |
| Term Start: | 6 March 2017 |
| Term End: | 10 October 2019 |
| Predecessor: | Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa |
| Successor: | Lord Nuku |
| Constituency Mp10: | Tongatapu 4 |
| Parliament10: | Tonga |
| Term Start10: | 3 November 2022 |
| Predecessor10: | Tatafu Moeaki |
| Term Start11: | 25 November 2014 |
| Term End11: | 18 November 2021 |
| Predecessor11: | ʻIsileli Pulu |
| Successor11: | Tatafu Moeaki |
| Majority11: | 9.3% |
| Party: | DPFI |
Mateni Tapueluelu is a Tongan journalist and politician.
He has worked as a correspondent for Radio New Zealand International in Tonga,[1] [2] then became editor of the Keleʻa, the newspaper of the pro-democracy movement and of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands, led by his father-in-law ʻAkilisi Pohiva. Tapueluelu's wife Laucala, Pohiva's daughter, is the newspaper's publisher.[3] [4] In 2013, he was fined T$ 130,000 for having published in Keleʻa a letter to the editor found to have defamed members of the government.[5] [6] Tapueluelu and his wife published an editorial criticising the ruling, whereupon they were found to be in contempt of court, and subjected to an additional fine of T$2,700.[7]
In the build-up to the 2014 general election, the Democratic Party suffered a split, de-selecting several of its own sitting members of the Legislative Assembly. Among those de-selected was Semisi Tapueluelu, MP for Tongatapu 10 and Mateni Tapueluelu's father. Under Mateni Tapueluelu's lead, Keleʻa published allegations of a sex scandal against his father. In the election in November, Semisi Tapueluelu lost his seat to the party's endorsed candidate in his constituency, while Mateni Tapueluelu was elected MP for Tongatapu 4. In so doing, he defeated incumbent MP and long-time key party figure ʻIsileli Pulu, who had also been de-selected and had therefore stood as an independent.[8]
In December 2015 Tapueluelu's election was annulled by the Supreme Court on the grounds of unpaid fines owing from the 2013 criminal libel case.[9] He successfully appealed against the ruling and was reinstated as an MP in April 2016.[10] In March 2017 he was appointed Minister of Police in a reshuffle following ʻAisake Eke's resignation, replacing Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa.[11] [12] He was reappointed after the DPFI landslide[13] in the 2017 election, but offered his resignation in March 2018 after a dispute with Armed Forces Minister Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi. His resignation was not accepted.[14]
Following the death of ʻAkilisi Pōhiva he was not appointed to the cabinet of Pohiva Tuʻiʻonetoa.
He contested the 2021 Tongan general election, but was unsuccessful.[15] He was re-elected again in the 2022 Tongatapu 4 by-election.[16] [17]