Matatumua Maimoana (1935–2012), also known as Matatumua Maimoaga Vermeulen, was a '' matai'',

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

and

Environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

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 ...

. Her chief title, Matatumua, was an orator's title from the village of

Faleasiu Faleasi'u is one of the largest village settlements on the island of Upolu in Samoa. It is located on the northwestern coast of the island and has a population of 4177. Faleasi'u is part of A'ana Alofi 1 Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District' ...

. She was a former member of parliament in Samoa and the founder of the Samoa All People's Party (SAPP), becoming the first woman to lead a political party in the country. SAPP allowed people as young as 16, regardless of gender or whether they were ''matai'' to be officers in the organisation which included village branches. She was a founding member of the

Human Rights Protection Party The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, ) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1979 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defeat in 2021. Former Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele ...

(HRPP), which has dominated Samoan politics in the last two decades. Matatumua was a former Superintendent of Nursing who was instrumental in the founding and development of the Samoa School of Nursing. She was an active member of the Samoa Public Service Association (PSA) during the 1981 PSA General Strike which brought down the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of Tupuola Efi. She was involved in environmental issues and is currently a board member of Matuaileo'o Environmental Trust (METI).

Family

Matatumua was the daughter of

Le Mamea Matatumua Ata Le Mamea Matatumua Ata was one of the framers of the Constitution of Samoa. He held senior positions under the German colonial government of Samoa, New Zealand Trusteeship of Samoa and in the Independent State of Samoa. He held the high chief ( ' ...

and Faalelei Masinalupe. her paternal grandfather was Faletoese Lipano Petaia a Samoan pastor and educator who established the government school at Malifa during the German colonial administration at the direction of Dr. Solf the German governor. She was married to Dr. Walter Vermeulen. Her older sister

Laulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa The music of Finland can be roughly divided into folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music. The folk music of Finland belongs to a broader musical tradition, common amongst Balto-Finnic people, sung in ...

was also a chief and a politician who was the wife of paramount chief Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu’u II, the first

Prime Minister of Samoa The prime minister of the Independent State of Samoa () is the head of government of Independent State of Samoa, Samoa. The prime minister is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa, Legislative Assembly, and is appointed by the O le Ao o ...

. Another sister Eni was also a founding member of HRPP and the wife of politician Aiono Nonumalo Sofara who left HRPP in 1993 and subsequently formed the Samoa Democratic Party.

Politics

Matatumua founded the Samoa All People's Party (SAPP) on 24 March 1996. Prior to leading the new political party, she had been a founding member of the

(HRPP), first entering parliament as one of the members for the constituency of Aana Number 1 (comprising the villages of

and Fasito'o) after the 1982 election. However, later she became known for being a critic of the HRPP government under Tofilau Eti Alesana, often voting against her party and opposing its leader in

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

. Among her criticisms was the extension of the parliamentary term from 3 years to 5 years and the fact that the extension took effect during that sitting of parliament rather than after the subsequent

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. Another major area of contention was the expansion of

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

from eight to thirteen members, and the inclusion of under secretaries (deputy ministers), which was seen as depleting the backbench. In 1990 she introduced a motion for the introduction of

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

while in

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

but was not supported by her own party. After the defeat of the motion, both the HRPP and the coalition under Tupuola Efi and Vaai Kolone promised to introduce universal suffrage if they gained power in the following election. When the HRPP retained power following that election, in which Matatumua lost her seat, the HRPP introduced the bill and Tofilau Eti Alesana claimed credit for the introduction of universal suffrage. As Deputy Chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, she often questioned and criticized the government's

fiscal policies In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables d ...

and practices as well what she saw as its deliberate lack of accountability to parliament. Eventually she resigned from the HRPP and founded SAPP. which has never attained any seats in parliament. She served as Member of Parliament of the electoral constituency of Aana No.1 from 1982 to 1984, during which she was a member of the Bills Committee, and from 1991 to 1995, during which she was deputy chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maimoana, Matatumua Samoan chiefs Maimoaga, Matatumua 1935 births 2012 deaths Human Rights Protection Party politicians 20th-century women politicians Mataʻafa family Samoan nurses People educated at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School 21st-century Samoan women politicians 21st-century Samoan politicians 20th-century Samoan women politicians 20th-century Samoan politicians

Family

Politics

See also

References