NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Politics of Samoa

Politics of Samoa takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic state whereby the Prime Minister of Samoa is the head of government. The government generally controls the legislative assembly as it is formed from the party which controls the majority seats in the assembly. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the assembly, but the government generally controls legislation through its weight of numbers in the Fono. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. O le Ao o le Malo is the Samoan head of state, which is the titles roughly translation. ... Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi, also known as Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi,[1][2] and formerly known as Tupuola Efi, (born March 1, 1938 at Motootua in Samoa) is a former Prime Minister of Samoa, serving two terms, and the current head of state of Samoa. ... List of Prime Ministers of Samoa Categories: | ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. ... The Fono or Legislative Assembly is the parliament of Samoa. ... Political parties in Samoa lists political parties in Samoa. ... Samoa elects on national level a legislature. ... General elections were held in Samoa on 4 March 2001. ... General elections were held in Samoa on 31 March 2006. ... Samoa is made up of eleven districts. ... The Samoan Government is generally conservative and pro-Western, with a strong interest in regional political and economic issues. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in red and orangeâ€”the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ... Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of popular sovereignty by the peoples representatives. ... List of Prime Ministers of Samoa Categories: | ... The head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. ... Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the executive is the branch of a government charged with implementing, or executing, the law. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... The Fono or Legislative Assembly is the parliament of Samoa. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box: In the law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state, a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. ...

Executive branch

The 1960 Constitution, which formally came into force with independence, is based on the British Westminster model of parliamentary democracy, modified to take account of Samoan customs. Two of Samoa's four highest ranking paramount chiefs (Tama a Aiga) at the time of independence were given lifetime appointments to jointly hold the office of head of state while a third, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II, became its first Prime Minister. Malietoa Tanumafili II held the post of Head of State alone since the death of his colleague, Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole, in 1963. Tanumafili died in May 2007 and his successor, Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi was elected by the legislature for a five-year term in June 2007. At the time the Constitution was adopted it was anticipated that future Heads of State would be chosen from among the four Tama-a-Aiga 'royal' paramount chiefs. However, this is not required by the Constitution and for this reason Samoa can be considered a republic rather than a constitutional monarchy like the United Kingdom. Parliament (the Fono) can also amend the constitution through a simple majority of votes in the house. O le Ao o le Malo is the Samoan head of state, which is the titles roughly translation. ... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... List of Prime Ministers of Samoa Categories: | ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. ... Politics of Samoa Categories: Stub | Samoan political parties ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... For the comedy film of the same name, see Head of State (film). ... Malietoa Tanumafili II (born January 4, 1913) is the head of state (O le Ao o le Malo) of Samoa. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Tupua Tamasese Tufuga Efi Formerly known as Tupola Efi. ...

System of Government

The system samoa system is very hard model of parliamentary democracy where the executive and the legislative arms of government are fused together. The prime minister is chosen by a majority in the Fono and is appointed by the head of state to form a government. The prime minister's preferred cabinet of 12 is appointed and sworn in by the head of state, subject to the continuing confidence of the Fono, which since the rise of political parties in Samoa in the 1980s, is controlled by the party with the majority of members in the Fono (the government).

The unicameral legislature, named the Fono Aoao Faitulafono (National Legislative Assembly) contains 49 members serving five-year terms. Forty-seven are elected from ethnic Samoan territorial constituencies; the other two are chosen by the Samoan citizens of non-Samoan origin on a separate electoral roll. Universal suffrage was extended in 1990, but only chiefs (matai) may stand for election to the Samoan seats. There are more than 25,000 matai in the country, about 5% of whom are women. The Fono or Legislative Assembly is the parliament of Samoa. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box: Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, intelligence, or economic or social status. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...

The third Tamaaiga id Tuimalealiifano who was the deputy Head of State or a member of the Council of Deputies when Samoa gained its independence in 1962.

Judicial System

The judicial system is based on English common law and local customs. The Court of Appeal is the court of highest jurisdiction, and consists of Commonwealth (usually New Zealand) judges. The Court of Appeal has a limited jurisdiction to hear only those cases referred to it by the Supreme Court. Below the Supreme Court are the district courts. The chief justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the Head of State on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

Perhaps the most important court in Samoa is the Land and Titles court, consisting of cultural and judicial experts appointed by the supreme court. This court hears village land and title succession disputes. The court derives from the Native Land and Titles Court put in place under the German colonial administration in 1901. Samoa's political stability is thought to be due in large part to the success of this court in hearing disputes.

Political history

Pre-European

Pre-Colonial

Colonial Period

Modern political history

From independence until the 1970s, Fono debate was conducted in the typical 'consensus' style manner of the faamatai system in the villages. This meant due deference was usually shown to the Tama-a-Aiga within parliament (the highest ranking chiefs in the nation). Debate usually ended up with the members supporting the then Tama-a-Aiga prime minister or other highly ranked chiefs in the house. Fiame Mataafa Mulinuu II was re-elected as Prime Minister unopposed for most of the period between 1962 and 1975. There were no political parties in these consensus-style parliaments of the 1960s and early 1970s. In the 1970-73 parliament, the first woman speaker of the Fono was chosen. The faamatai or faamatai is the traditional indigenous form of local governance in the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific. ...

However, rising competition and differences in views between MPs in the 1970s led to the establishment of the first political party - the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) in 1979. The 1978 election was the first time a non-Tama-a-Aiga was chosen as Prime Minister. The election of Tupuola Efi to the prime ministership by his supporters was met with staunch opposition from various quarters of the Fono and caused huge controversy at the time. The HRPP was set up in part to oppose the then Prime Minister, Tupuola Efi (later to become TuiAtua Tupua Tamasese Efi), and to demand greater rights for farmers. One of the founding members was Vaai Kolone - a famous farmer turned politician from the rural Savaii constituency of Vaisigano.

Since 1982, the majority party in the Fono has been the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP). HRPP leader Tofilau Eti Alesana served as prime minister for nearly all of the period between 1982 and 1998, when he resigned due to health reasons. Tofilau Eti was replaced by his deputy, Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi. Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Politics of Samoa Categories: Stub | Samoan political parties ... Tofilau Eti Alesana (June 4, 1924 March 19, 1999) was a Samoan politician. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi. ...

Parliamentary elections were held in March 2001. The Human Rights Protection Party, led by Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi, won 30 of the 49 seats in the current Fono. The Samoa Democratic United Party, led by Le Mamea Ropati, is the main opposition. Other political parties are the Samoa Party, the Christian Party, and the Samoa Progressive Political Party. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

The March 2006 elections were again won by the HRPP by an even larger margin than 2001. The HRPP won 32 seats to the SDUP's 10, with a third major party - the Samoa Party - not gaining any. The majority of independents joined the HRPP to increase the party's majority to 39 seats in the 49 seat parliament.

Internal SDUP infighting led to the party's parliamentary members splitting. Leader Le Mamea Ropati was ousted in a coup led by deputy leader Asiata Dr Saleimoa Vaai, who then assumed leadership of the SDUP. Le Mamea and supporters became independents and thus reduced the SDUP's MPs to only 7. This was not enough to be formally recognised in the Fono as an official opposition party (they needed at least 8 MPs). Therefore there is no official opposition party recognised in the Samoan parliament at present.

Political parties and elections

The Samoa Democratic United Party (formed after the 2001 elections) bringing together the Samoa National Development Party and the Samoa Independent Party) is led by the long serving Member of Parliament, Hon. Le Mamea Ropati Mualia. Other parties include(d) the Samoan Progressive Conservative Party, the Samoa All People's Party, and the Samoa Liberal Party. A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... Political parties in Samoa lists political parties in Samoa. ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ... Samoa elects on national level a legislature. ... The Fono or Legislative Assembly is the parliament of Samoa. ... Politics of Samoa Categories: Stub | Samoan political parties ... The Samoan Democratic United Party (SDUP) is the main opposition party of Samoa. ... The Samoan Party is a small party of Samoa. ... The Samoa Progressive Political Party is a small party of Samoa. ... The Christian Party is a small party of Samoa. ... The Samoan Progressive Conservative Party is a political party in Samoa without parliamentary representation. ... The Samoa All Peoples Party is a political party in Samoa without parliamentary representation. ...

Administrative divisions

Samoa is divided in 11 districts; A'ana, Aiga-i-le-Tai, Atua, Fa'asaleleaga, Gaga'emauga, Gagaifomauga, Palauli, Satupa'itea, Tuamasaga, Va'a-o-Fonoti, Vaisigano.

External Links

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