By-election to the Tongan parliament
A by-election was held in the Tongatapu 9 constituency of Tonga on 15 September 2011. It was triggered by the death of the incumbent, the first time MP Kaveinga Faʻanunu, who died of head and neck cancer on 24 July. Under the first past the post system, Faʻanunu had won the newly established single-member seat for the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands in the November 2010 general election, with 34% of the vote, and a majority of 494 votes (18.5%), appearing to make it a relatively safe seat for the party (which was a junior partner in Lord Tuʻivakano's government).[1][2]
