Viliami Tangi | |
---|---|
Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga | |
In office May 2006 – 4 January 2011 | |
Prime Minister | Feleti Sevele |
Preceded by | James Cocker |
Succeeded by | Samiu Vaipulu |
Minister of Health | |
In office 1 March 1999 – 4 January 2011 | |
Prime Minister |
Baron Vaea ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho Feleti Sevele |
Succeeded by | 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.
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. [2] 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. [2]
Following democratic reforms in 2010, Tangi contested the 2010 election, [3] 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. [2]
Following the 2021 Tongan general election, he was appointed interim Speaker. [4]