predecessor constituency_mp party term_start majority article_title name
ʻisileli pulu tongatapu 4 dpfi 25 november 2014 9.3 % mateni tapueluelu
 mateni tapueluelu
mateni tapueluelu

mateni tapueluelu is a tongan journalist and politician .
he has worked as a correspondent for radio new zealand international in tonga , 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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
