A candidate of Tonga's nobles has been chosen by members of parliament as the country's first democratically elected prime minister.

The election of Lord Tu'ivakano now goes to King George Tupou V for ratification.

MPs voted today after an election was delayed yesterday.

On Monday, the country's 26 MPs held their first parliamentary session since last month's landmark elections.

They heard emotional pleas from supporters for pro-democracy candidate 'Akilisi Poheva, and equally strong calls for support for his rival, Lord Tu'ivakano.

Yesterday's vote was delayed after the interim speaker was informed that King George would not be available to hear the voting result until today.

Tongan journalist Monalisa Palu was in parliament and said Mr Pohiva appeared to be struggling to get the numbers to form government.

"There's no surprises - the 11 that aligned themselves with Akilisi were mainly the ones who spoke, the other 15 who had been speculated as supporting Lord Tu'ivakano remained silent mostly and there doesn't seem to be any big surprises," she said.