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Council Of Deputies
The Council of Deputies () is a constitutional body in Samoa. Its members serve as Deputy O le Ao o le Malo and act as head of state when the office of O le Ao o le Malo is vacant or when the incumbent is unable to fulfill their duties due to absence or incapacitation. The Council was established by the constitution at independence on 1 January 1962. It consists of between one and three members, who are elected by the Legislative Assembly. If there are no members, the Chief Justice acts in their place.Constitution of Samoa
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Elections to the Council are required to take place as soon as possible after a new O le Ao o le Malo is elected.


Members

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Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono and Apolima), and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nuʻutele, Nuʻulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Samoa is located west of American Samoa, northeast of Tonga, northeast of Fiji, east of Wallis and Futuna, southeast of Tuvalu, south of Tokelau, southwest of Hawaii, and northwest of Niue. The capital and largest city is Apia. The Lapita culture, Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Culture of Samoa, Samoan cultural identity. Samoa is a Unitary state, unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy with 11 Districts of Samoa, administrative divisions. It is a sovereign state and a membe ...
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O Le Ao O Le Malo
The Independent State of Samoa ( Samoan for "Chief of the government") is the ceremonial head of state of Samoa. The position is described in Part III of the 1960 Samoan constitution. 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'' "matai" paramount chiefs in line with customary protocol. This is not a constitutional requirement, so Samoa can be considered a parliamentary republic rather than a constitutional monarchy. The government Press Secretariat describes Head of State as a "ceremonial president". The holder is given the formal style of ''Highness'', as are the heads of the four paramount chiefly dynasties. Members of the Council of Deputies act as deputy heads of state, standing in for the head of state when they are unable to fulfil their duties, such as when the Head of State is either absent or ill. The current O le Ao o le Malo is Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi ...
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Constitution Of Samoa
The Constitution of Samoa is a written constitution which is the supreme law in Samoa. It establishes Samoa as a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system and responsible government. It outlines the structure and powers of the Samoan government's three parts: the executive, legislature, and judiciary. The constitution was drafted by a pair of constitutional conventions in 1954 and 1960. The final draft was approved by a referendum in 1961, and came into force when Samoa became independent on 1 January 1962. The constitution can be amended by a two-thirds majority of the Legislative Assembly. It has been frequently amended, especially during the period of Human Rights Protection Party dominance from 1997 to 2021, often for the advantage of the ruling party. History Samoa became a United Nations trust territory in 1947, and began a transition towards self-government and independence. In March 1953 the New Zealand government issued a "statement of policy" proposing internal ...
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Legislative Assembly Of Samoa
The Legislative Assembly (), also known as the Parliament of Samoa (), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan Parliament is composed of two parts: the O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) and the Legislative Assembly. Parliament has been dissolved since 3 June 2025. In the Samoan language, the Legislative Assembly of Samoa is sometimes referred to as the Samoan Fono while the ''government'' of the country is referred to as the Malo. The word ''fono'' is a Samoan and Polynesian term for councils or meetings great and small and applies to national assemblies and legislatures, as well as local village councils. The modern government of Samoa exists on a national level alongside the country's '' fa'amatai'' indigenous chiefly system of governance and social organisation. In his or her own right, the O le Ao o le Malo can summon and call together the Legislative Assembly, and can prorogue or dissolve Parlia ...
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Chief Justice Of Samoa
The chief justice of Samoa () is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Samoa. The qualifications and powers of the office are governed by Part VI of the Constitution of Samoa and the Judicature Ordinance 1961. The position is currently held by Satiu Simativa Perese. History Under the American–British–German condominium, the Supreme Court of Justice for Samoa was established by Article III of the Treaty of Berlin (1889), with the single judge of the court being called the Chief Justice per Section 1 of that Article. The first Chief Justice was Swedish jurist Conrad Cedercrantz, who was appointed in 1890. The position of Chief Justice was subsequently held by Americans Henry Clay Ide from 1893 to 1897 and William Lea Chambers from 1897 to 1899. Chambers' ruling in the kingship dispute between Malietoa Tanumafili I and Mata'afa Iosefo in December 1898 angered the Germans and led to the Second Samoan Civil War. After the war ended in 1899, Samoa was partitioned int ...
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Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II
Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II (1914 – 24 July 1974) was a Western Samoan paramount chief, politician and church elder. For most of the period between 1962 and 1974 he was the only member of the Council of Deputies, whose members serve as deputy to the O le Ao o le Malo. Biography Suatipatipa was born in 1914,Morgan A. Tuimalealiʻifano (2006O Tama a ʻāiga: The Politics of Succession to Sāmoa's Paramount Titlespiiii the son of Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana I, a member of the anti-colonial Mau movement. He was educated at Marist Brothers schools in Samoa and New Zealand.T.T. Suatipatipa II
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1974, p102
In 1952 he succeeded his father as
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Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV
Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV (8 May 1922 – 9 July 1983) was the second prime minister of Samoa from 25 February 1970 to 20 March 1973 and again from 21 May 1975 to 24 March 1976. He held the title of Tupua Tamasese, one of the four main chiefly titles of Samoa (the Tama-a-Aiga) from 1965 until his death in 1983. Biography Lealofi was born in Apia in May 1922, the eldest son of Mau movement leader Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III, who was killed by New Zealand Police in 1929.Tupua Tamases Lealofi IV
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1983, p65
After studying at the Marist Brothers school and Malifa high school, he attended the



Brij Lal (historian)
Brij Vilash Lal , OF (21 August 1952 – 25 December 2021) was an Indo-Fijian historian who wrote about the Pacific region and the Indian indenture system. A harsh critic of the Bainimarama government, which originated in the military coup of 2006 and retained power in the 2014 elections, he lived in exile in Australia. Early life Lal was born in 1952 in Tabia, Labasa on the northern island of Vanua Levu, Fiji to illiterate parents. His paternal grandfather was a North Indian indentured sugar cane farmer in Fiji, known as a ' girmitya', - the focus of Lal's early academic research. He completed an undergraduate degree in history at the University of the South Pacific. He went on to do an MA (1976) at the University of British Columbia and a PhD (1980) at the Australian National University. Academic career Lal was professor of Pacific and Asian History at the School of Culture, History and Language at Australian National University from 1990 until his retirement i ...
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Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II
Afioga Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Eti Sualauvi II (born 29 April 1947) is a Samoan politician who is the current O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) of Samoa, in office since 2017. Biography He is a great-grandson of one of the Mau movement leaders, Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana I, and grand-nephew of Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II, who was the inaugural member of the Council of Deputies in 1962. He was appointed to the title of Tuimalealiʻifano in July 1977, a title formed out of a cadet branch of the Sā Tupua state dynasty and one of the four paramount chiefly titles of Samoa. He is married to Masiofo Faʻamausili Leinafo Tuimalealiʻifano. Early career He worked as a policeman, lawyer and previously was a Samoan Police Chief Inspector and a secondary school teacher. He was a police officer in New Zealand for three years. He also served as a public-defender, public trustee, and barrister and solicitor in the Supreme Court of Samoa. He is an ...
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Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi
Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi (born Olaf "Efi" Tamasese; 1 March 1938) is a Samoan paramount chief and politician. He heads one of Samoa's two royal families, the ''Sā Tupua'' (descendants of Queen Salamasina), through the family's maximal lineage title, Tupua Tamasese. He also holds the ancient ''pāpā'' title of Tui Ātua (sovereign of Atua). Tui Ātua served as the third prime minister of Samoa from 1976 to 1982 and again later in 1982. He also served as O le Ao o le Malo (head of state of Samoa) from 2007 to 2017. As of late 2024, he was reappointed to serve on the Council of Deputies. Early life and education Tupua was born on 1 March 1938 at Motoʻotua in Samoa. He is the son of Samoa's first co-head of state ( O le Ao o le Malo), Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole (1905–1963), and Irene Gustava Noue Nelson, of Samoan, Swedish and British descent. He is also the nephew of Samoa's celebrated independence movement leader, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III and the cous ...
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Tuiloma Pule Lameko
Tuiloma Pule Alaimoana Unasa Lameko Gae’e (6 July 1935 – 1 April 2018) was a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister. He was a member of the Human Rights Protection Party. Lameko was born in Falealili. Initially educated at a free church school, he later attended Poutasi Primary School. He gained entry to Avele School using a younger cousin's birth certificate, as he was too old to attend. He briefly attended Samoa College and a teachers training college, but in both cases left due to inability to pay fees. While working as a cashier, he took night classes to train as an accountant. He worked for the Treasury Department, then after serving a secondment to the International Monetary Fund in 1975 was appointed the first manager of the Samoa Shipping Corporation in 1976. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in a by-election in 1979, after Muliagatele Vena was unseated for bribery. He held the seat until 1991. Between 1991 and 1996 he served as Public Servi ...
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Le Mamea Ropati
Tuiletufuga Le Mamea Ropati Mualia is a former Samoan politician. He has served as a Cabinet Minister, Leader of the Opposition and member of the Council of Deputies. He represented the constituency for Lefaga & Falese'ela for over thirty years. He was a founding member of the Human Rights Protection Party. Le Mamea was educated at Samoa College and later studied pharmacy at the University of Otago, graduating in 1970 to become Samoa's first pharmacy graduate. He worked as chief pharmacist at Cherry Farm Psychiatric Hospital in Hawksbury, New Zealand. He returned to Samoa in 1971 and became chief pharmacist at Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital in Apia. Political career He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in the 1979 election. He was one of the founding members of the Human Rights Protection Party, and following the 1982 election was appointed to cabinet in the first HRPP government as Minister of Lands Survey, Post Office and Broadcasting. He subsequentl ...
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