In the past week, the Tonga Cabinet has lost one Minister to resignation, another who threatened to resign claiming his Cabinet colleagues were not supporting him, and a third is facing serious criminal charges.
This comes as Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva recovers from ill-health, while his deputy Semisi Sika is out of the country, accompanying the King on a trip to China.
The director of the Pasifika Centre at New Zealand's Massey University, Malakai Koloamatangi, said what is happening is symptomatic of a lack of leadership.