Viliami Tangi Explained

Viliami Tangi
Office:Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga
Primeminister:Feleti Sevele
Term Start:May 2006
Term End:4 January 2011
Predecessor:James Cocker
Successor:Samiu Vaipulu
Office2:Minister of Health
Term Start2:1 March 1999
Term End2:4 January 2011
Primeminister2:Baron Vaea
ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho
Feleti Sevele
Successor2:ʻAkilisi Pōhiva

Viliami Ta’u Tangi, styled Lord Tangi of Vaonukonuka, is a Tongan politician and former Cabinet Minister. He has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health.

Biography

Tangi is from Vavaʻu.[1] He trained as a medical doctor at the Fiji School of Medicine, then entered the civil service as a medical officer. After completing surgical training overseas he became the second Tongan national admitted to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He worked as Chief Surgeon in Vaiola Hospital, Nuku'alofa, before moving to Australia. He returned to Tonga after being appointed as Minister of Health in 1999. As a Minister, he sat in the Tongan Parliament, but was not an elected representative. In 2003 he was elected to the WHO Executive Board.

Following democratic reforms in 2010, Tangi contested the 2010 election,[2] but failed to win a seat. On 30 December 2010, he was appointed a Tongan life peer by King George Tupou V as Lord Tangi of Vaonukonuka.[3]

Following the 2021 Tongan general election, he was appointed interim Speaker.[4]

Honours

National honours

Notes and References

  1. Book: Tongan Heroes . David Riley . Reading Warrior . Auckland . 2016 . 28-30 . 6 January 2022.
  2. Web site: Tonga health minister standing in elections to ensure continuity . RNZ . 25 October 2010 . 13 December 2020.
  3. Web site: Lord Tangi of Vaonukonuka . Government of Tonga . 30 December 2010 . 21 July 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140102125353/http://www.mic.gov.to/government/nobles-of-the-realm/1969-lord-tangi-of-vaonukonuka . 2 January 2014.
  4. Web site: Lord Tangi is interim Speaker of the House . Nukualofa Times . 22 November 2021 . 22 November 2021.
  5. Web site: Royal orders presented at Palace . Matangi Tonga . 1 August 2008 . 2 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210121030307/https://matangitonga.to/2008/08/01/royal-orders-presented-palace . 21 January 2021.