24 Oct 2014

Number of candidates standing in Tonga's 2nd election drops

6:05 pm on 24 October 2014

There has been a marked falloff in the number of candidates standing in the elections in Tonga in late November.

The Elections Supervisor Pita Vuki says 106 candidates have registered to vie for the 17 People's Representative constituencies.

This is down from the 144 who stood in 2010 - in Tonga's first election for a mostly democratic parliament.

Mr Vuki says there are 16 women standing, compared with 11 last time.

The Tonga Legislature also set aside 9 seats for nobles - elected by members of the nobility.