Tonga is awaiting the selection of a new prime minister after a national election saw 10 of 17 people's representatives returned to parliament, amid low voter turnout in the tiny constitutional monarchy.

Tonga, with a population of 108,000, is one of a number of small Pacific nations at the centre of a battle for influence between China and Western partners including Australia and the United States. It is highly indebted to China's EXIM bank, servicing 20-year-old construction loans.

Tonga's electoral commission said 10 of 17 people's representatives were returned in Thursday's election, which had a voter turnout of 49 per cent - a rate lower than the 2021 poll of 62 per cent. Eight out of nine incumbent nobles were also returned in a vote among peers.

A prime minister will be selected

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