By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
The question is where are we in ending our political turmoil. Our political standoff is going on 4-months old since the 9th of April 2021 general elections.
Are our political leaders ready to pucker up and kiss each other or draw further and further apart?
Parliament is to convene on the 2 August 2021 but don’t raise your hopes too high.
If it is a Constitutional order for Parliament to hold session when all members are seated then that is not going to happen.
We have not finished yet with election petition court hearings.
The Electoral Commissioner and his staff are yawning and snoring quietly at their new Mulinu’u Office waiting for Election Writs to dust up the polling booths for by-elections.
Other election related court matters including serious legal challenges on the Constitution are still pending.
So far the more we try to solve our legal issues the more we run into new ones.
Think about that snake where one head is cut off and 20 more pops out from the stump to replace it.
We are at the point now where the Judiciary is buried like a ball in a rugby maul with only arms and legs sticking out from the solid mass of heaving bodies.
One side is holding on to the ball and the referee blows the whistle on the other one for rough play.
“But ref. this is rugby. You play rough and tough to win the ball so you can score,” the penalised side protested the referee ruling in favour of the other side.
The latest tactical move by the FAST party to fire up the village support to condemn the HRPP and praise the Judiciary at the same time is not going to end well.
The HRPP is calling on their loyal village followers to roar louder with their party praises too.
Lets just hope all this roaring will not bring the team supporters on to the rugby paddock for an ‘everything goes’ mauling.
The referee can blow his game whistle all he wants and the chances of a deaf hearing it is better than the flying arms and legs in a running maul all over the ground.
The social media is not the only place where words you cringe to are flowing freely.
Fiame has been blasting out some strong words like dictatorship and tyranny against her former boss, Prime Minister Tuilaepa.
If you are on her side, those fighting words are to be admired coming from her. On the Tuilaepa side they are shameful words defamatory enough to file a legal complaint.
Now we hear of the Chairman of a prominent church championing the rights of the FAST party to form the new Government in a letter to the Head of State.
Added to it is a local group making sustained calls for influential outside opinions to condemn the sovereign political affairs of Samoa.
Word of caution to this group! Don’t go there. It is only when you live and grow up in Samoa, would you know instinctively the boundaries you dare not cross.
When a respected orator in the middle of an oratory to negotiate a settlement between two political rivals is shouted down to shut up, that is serious.
It happened outside the courtrooms at Mulinuu recently.
What that shows is that our proud culture of respect is starting to show cracks under the strain of our political crisis.
Telling outsiders to stick their foreign noses into our political affairs will crack our stability wide open.
What we need most to find a lasting solution and to start healing now is to honour and respect the immortal words of the late MP, Polataivao Fosi Schmidt, who was loved by us all.
“Peace and loving words.”
Kicking around the Judiciary like a rugby ball or purring up to them like a wily cat with loving words is not what Polataivao meant.
Writing demand letters to the Head of State or firing up the village political support base to be loud and vocal is not going to bring any love or peace.
Admittedly we are trying but somehow the hopes of any lasting peace and love continue to slip away into the far horizon.
The only way we can turn it around and start reeling it back is to return to general elections.
Real justice where political leadership is concerned is decided by a ruling from the people through their vote.
Our vote is the only legitimate pathway to living the legacy King Pola left for all of us to follow.
‘Peace and loving words.’
Absolutely correct! Samoans living outside the country should NOT be allowed to vote. That is my opinion. Why? Many Samoans will live in other countries until the are ready to retire, many will move back to Samoa having overseas pensions. At that time the country shall make many changes. Some will be good and some bad. What we experienced with returning retirees Samoans back home? They will be asked to pay for the land allocated to them by their matai for which they contributed during their working life. This will create a bitter disputes within the family and in most cases these retirees will buy a freehold land, build the house for themselves thus removing any connection from the family. So my view is, irrespectively of the government rules and laws you will end up doing your thing and enjoying your pension in full. Sad but true.