By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
Today it is about an expensive vehicle the Minister of Works allegedly registered under his name.
Cries of corruption have been heard and starting to echo.
Tomorrow it will be the National Budget and the promise of another outright grilling that will lead to more embarrassing silence like it was with the last budget.
Knives of budget debate are being sharpened.
By the end of the year there will be more digging into what the Government is doing, why, when, where, what and how.
The question that has been asked and will continue to be made is whether the HRPP in opposition still have their noses out of joint.
It is a point to note and the answer is probably yes. Is that bad or good?
The answer depends on where your political loyalties are – HRPP or FAST.
If we are to wonder what it will take to snap the joint back into place the answer is easy enough.
Ask the opposition leader. Give it to Tuilaepa straight. He does not shy from the hard ones the local media throws at him.
Based on experience his answer is not going to be a direct yes or a no. Rare to find those two words in any veteran politician’s vocabulary on any issue of national value.
Tuilaepa is a master politician. No and yes are ‘suspended indefinitely’ from his language of communication.
As many of the local journos have found out a no from the man can be a short biting snap that leaves your head spinning all day.
A yes can be a long, rambling fairy tale that will make you want to donate your bank savings for a new car to the Koko Samoa Saturday night serenaders.
For some who have followed the man for quite sometime, his yes or no depends on your personal interpretation.
Ask him the ‘nose out of joint’ question and you will find out soon enough that he has already answered it.
For quite some time now he has been playing up the responsibilities of being the opposition party and what is expected of them.
Here is one of the many versions of what he has been saying for a while now about putting their noses where it should be as their elected duties for Samoa.
“When we were in Govt. we wanted a strong opposition. We have become that strong opposition and we are committed to doing our job well.
“Cabinet Ministers or CEOs don’t know everything that goes on and it helps to have a critical eye to keep them better informed.
‘The more they know what needs to be done the easier it is for Samoa to benefit from their decision making.
“Sometimes people know what is going on but they pretend not to and that is where we as a strong opposition comes in.”
As you sit there listening to all this rhetoric from the man, the yes our ‘noses are back in joint’ comes through clearly.
So too is a ‘no’ we are not petty and childish by continuing to carry a grudge at no longer being in the seat of political power.
A system of checks and balances in any democracy is crucial for its own good and we know all that.
The general belief is that the stronger it is the better for all.
But knowing and responding to what you know are not always on the same page. When they are not, there will be hard times ahead with all kinds of social and economic conflicts turning molehills into mountains.
Strong leadership based on the principles of transparency and accountability is what good governance is founded on.
Tuilaepa is a strong leader. He would not be in office for more than 20 years if he was not.
As his political followers would say ‘ his work speaks for itself.”
He may not be the Prime Minister anymore but he is the leader of a strong political side whose role is to keep the Government of the day honest.
The same principles of good governance he practiced as the leader of the Government are still there.
The only difference is they are being applied as leader of the Government opposition.
More yes and no from all that.
Any Government in power will tread carefully knowing there is a strong opposition on watchdog duties to always be on the look out for.
Good! By the same token they should not cower but learn to stand up to what they believe in their heart is good for the country.
Is giving away $200,000 to the villages for development a good investment? Is promising a million tala to follow if they do well an honest promise or not?
If they can answer yes to all that go for it. Just don’t bring the will of God into it. Our Lord has already told us not to use His name in vain.
If it is politics give that to Caesar. If it is faith in God’s truth give that to Him.
God our politics in Samoa stink right now.
Can You smell it in Heaven?