European Parliament figures have been President of the Parliament and its predecessors. The first President was Paul-Henri Spaak MEP, one of the founding fathers of the Union. Other founding fathers include Alcide de Gasperi MEP and Robert Schuman MEP. The two female Presidents were Simone Veil MEP in 1979 (first President of the elected Parliament) and Nicole Fontaine MEP in 1999, both Frenchwomen. The previous president, Jerzy Buzek was the first East-Central European to lead an EU institution, a former Prime Minister of Poland who rose out of the Solidarity movement in Poland that helped overthrow communism in the Eastern Bloc. During
Prime Minister of Tonga Prime Minister of Tonga The Prime Minister (until 1970, Premier) of Tonga heads the government of the Kingdom of Tonga ("His Majesty's government"), while the King is the official head of the executive power. The office of Prime Minister was established by the Constitution of 1875, whose article 51 stipulates that the Prime Minister and other ministers are appointed and dismissed by the King. During the 2000s, the country experienced an increase in democratization. In March 2006, King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV appointed Dr. Feleti Sevele, a moderate member of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement, as Prime Minister. Sevele was