As a result, an additional female candidate – Ali'imalemanu Alofa Tuuau of the HRPP – was declared elected, increasing the parliament's membership to 52 and the HRPP's seat total to 26. Following this, Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio an independent member, announced that he would side with FAST, creating a hung parliament with both the HRPP and FAST holding 26 seats.[9]