Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni has abruptly resigned ahead of a planned no-confidence vote in his leadership, capping a period of fraught relations between his government and the Pacific nation’s royal family.

In cryptic remarks delivered before announcing his shock resignation on Monday, Sovaleni suggested the country’s nobility was “fearful” of losing its sway.

“I’ll be resigning immediately according to the constitution,” Sovaleni told the Legislative Assembly, according to a report on the Matangi Tonga news website and a livestream of his speech.

“I thought this land had been given freedom, but there’s still enslavement,” he added through tears. “I hope there’s a time where we’ll work together.”

Sovaleni, who took office in 2021, resigned before facing a vote of no confidence on Monday afternoon brought on by opposition lawmakers. His leadership had survived a previous no-confidence vote in September 2023.

A statement on the Tongan parliament’s Facebook page said the prime minister had quit “for the good of the country and moving Tonga forward”.

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Tonga’s hereditary nobles occupy nine seats in the country’s 26-member Legislative Assembly. Had they voted as a bloc alongside the opposition, they would have forced Sovaleni out.

Sovaleni gave up the armed forces portfolio earlier this year after running afoul of King Tupou VI, who said the prime minister no longer enjoyed his “confidence and consent” in the role.

Initially, the prime minister refused to heed the king’s request, citing legal advice that any move to oust him would be unconstitutional.

Sovaleni eventually backed down in April after he was forced to deny allegations of insulting the king.

Although the sovereign’s predecessor ceded power voluntarily in the 2010 democratic reforms, Tupou VI retains powers to dissolve parliament, appoint judges and veto laws.

It was not immediately clear who would replace Oxford-educated Sovaleni. Veteran politician and longtime rival ‘Aisake Eke is said to be one of the frontrunners.