‘Akilisi Pōhiva

‘Akilisi Pōhiva is the founder of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement, which was the first group to advocate for political reform in Tonga. He later went on to found the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands. In 2013, he won the Parliamentarians for Global Action’s Defender of Democracy Award.

Pōhiva became the first “common” citizen elected as prime minister of Tonga in 2014 and has continued his pursuit of democratic reforms for the nation’s political system.