Letter to the Editor
December 2, 2021
The Editor
Observer
Your editorial of 2/12/21 referred. It must have been written by an idiot. If the editorial was cleared by your editorial Board then you have a Board of Idiots! For years you have been issuing garbage after garbage in your editorial page
The Voters did not oust the HRPP as you stated – Here are the results of the general elections
HRPP – 25 candidates
FAST – 24 candidates
INDEPENDENT – 2 candidates
Later, an additional woman MP was added to the HRPP tally as required by Article 44 of the Constitution. The two Independents also joined FAST to give a tie – 26 to FAST, 26 to HRPP
If the whole staff of the Observer Top down cannot add, close down – You also referred to an administrative coup – There was indeed a coup – that unseated the HRPP Government – And everyone knows how it happened. The Observer was part of that Coup.
The HRPP did not also refuse the will of the people to step down. The HRPP Custodian Government was waiting for the Court to clarify its rulings on
- 10% women, which it finally confirmed to be 6 after it first made a wrong ruling but then refused to recognize our lady MP until after the by-elections of 26 November! And so we lost the balancing Seat with the help of the Court
- The FAST’s Party Swearing ceremony under the tent on 24 May which was declared illegal and Unconstitutional, void and of no effect by the Supreme Court but later on legitimized by the Court of Appeal. Same facts but different rulings within a matter of few weeks! Again a disadvantage to the HRPP.
Several weeks later the Court appointed 5 genuine Independent Judges from New Zealand after HRPP is down – Bravo!
You also mentioned the restructuring of the Land and Titles Court being rammed through Parliament. Again wrong. These 3 bills were a product of 5 years of research, reviews and debates – and two consultations by the Bills Committee – The last consultations took 6 months of meetings with all the districts of Samoa as required by the Constitution, and so Members of Parliament had 5 years of readings, and understanding the 3 bills, some sleeping and idling.
You also ignorantly stated that our Judicial System is split into two – as no other legal system has done –Rubbish. Many Commonwealth Countries have two legal Systems. Malaysia has 3. We have Two
The rest of the editorial is not worth reading. These are hard political and historical facts which will be written into our history.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
Leader of HRPP