By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
Is this Harmony Agreement beyond salvage?
The question is worth looking into if we want to mend the damages from the fallout that have disrupted our lives and will continue to do so if not resolved.
Start on a new footing and build our way back up to the harmony and unity we have lost in the ugly aftermath of the 2021 general elections.
What have we to lose? We are already at the bottom of the pit.
The only way out for us is up unless we want to dwell in the muck of anger and regret we are sloshing in right now.
The mess that has left our wounds to fester is all politically related. We should start our redemption climb from there.
This FAST Government should take the lead as is their mandated role as our political leaders.
Return the suspended opposition members Tuilaepa and Lealailepule back to Parliamentary duties.
In a show of good faith give them backpay for the period under suspension.
You don’t need brains flowing out of your ears to appreciate the tender goodwill appeal the act holds.
There are no quick fixes. We cannot restore everything overnight.
We can only wish for good speed against a mountain of issues to smooth over.
Time is what we need which is the normal process of healing and we all know the time frame for that.
Restoring the suspended MPs to their rightful roles and responsibilities is a promising first step in our quest for peace and harmony in Samoa.
We must not continue to wallow in the shame and shambles of this Harmony Agreement fallout.
The fate of senior solicitor Maiava Visekota Peteru is inextricably tied to the same court ruling and conviction for Tuilaepa and Lealailepule.
Her troubles are with the Samoa Law Society that has investigated and is now poised to decide if her court conviction brought disrepute to the legal profession.
The society membership is caught up in a tussle to a large extent by political undercurrents to party loyalties and support.
It is this political intrusion that threatens to smear the integrity of the legal society regardless of the process of fair decision-making in the case of Maiava.
This is the kind of political poison that has seeped into our peace and harmony to divide and erode.
No professional or non-professional orgnisation is safe from this venom.
The fear if these politically motivated divisions are left to fester is the wounds will never heal.
The fallout should not be allowed to spread. Nothing good will come out of it. Simple commonsense.
The Harmony Agreement our political leaders signed promised good and noble intentions.
Unfortunately, it was sad not to mention damning what followed.
What was supposed to be a blessing of good leadership ended in betrayal. Parties ended up pointing fingers at each other.
The road that lies ahead in our journey as a country can be either straight forward or not depending on the choices we make.
We can make our choice simpler by reverting to the honoured values of an agreement that sought Harmony. Can we salvage the nobility that we are supposed to trust and uphold?
The count is now at 16 months since we fell into this cesspool of political discord with little signs of finding our way up and out.
Is it because we cannot see any light to guide our escape or is it our leaders who are blinded by their selfish, political ambitions?
Where does that leave us?
We should not compare our fate to the biblical journey Moses led for the Israelites to the Promised Land.
In fact, it is a struggle to believe the sermons by our Servants of the Lord anymore.
All it takes is one denomination to play God in local politics to look with despair into the Heavens with a mournful wail of ‘Why Lord?’
Politics has dumped us in a messy hole. As a country we must fight our way out.
We have to move move before despair or worse chains us down to this muck we are now wading in.
If reviving the Harmony Agreement is the road we have to re-lit to follow, lets do it.
For our sake lets show we are in harmony by agreeing.