By Staff Writer
SHUFFLING ALONG : HRPP Opposition leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
The surprise Cabinet re-shuffle by the PM Fiame Naomi Mataafa, this week on Wednesday 6 September 2023, is being played down by the opposition leader, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
“The Prime Minister can change her Cabinet around if she wants, she has all the rights to do so,” Tuilaepa told the local media in his weekly, Thursday, press conference.
The former PM’s seemingly, low key reaction, smartly avoided growing public speculations of leadership frictions inside the ruling party.
The shocking surprise in the Cabinet change over is the re-assignment of the Minister of Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Molio’o, from her senior portfolio.
The first woman Cabinet member responsible for managing the country’s finances is now seen as better suited to look after the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development.
Tuilaepa side-stepped any reference to the Minister’s change of portfolio to recent international controversies she was involved in, namely talks with Chinese investors of setting up a Samoa Stock Market in Hong Kong.
Mulipola reportedly had the support of the Minister of Agriculture, La’auli Leuatea Schmidt.
The influential La’auli was also behind the arrangement for chartered flights directly from China to Samoa that allegedly involved the same Chinese investors with the Samoa Stock Market idea.
“Look, all this has nothing to do with me, it’s a matter for the PM who knows better than anyone else what is going on,” Tuilaepa underlined.
“All I’m looking forward to and will be very happy to see happen is for the new Minister of the Ministry to demonstrate her leadership integrity with a fair and quick disbursement of our constituency’s outstanding million tala share.”
Tuilaepa said his Lepa constituency has received just over 100 thousand tala of their first $1m promised all the electoral constituencies.
“Hopefully she will do the same for all the other HRPP constituencies still kept in waiting mode, while disbursement is almost complete for all the Government Constituencies.”
The Government’s million tala a year election promise is into its 3rd year with the first $1m still to be paid out fully.
The HRPP opposition leader distracted attention when asked of any likely blows in the push for more women in leadership roles with public speculations pointing to the portfolio switch as a demotion.
No other Finance Minister in the known history of Cabinet sittings has been re-assigned half way through a term in office.
Tuilaepa is a central advocator of gender equity in women leadership and is the force behind the mandatory10 percent seat arrangement in Parliament for lady MPs.
He quipped about his phone ringing all morning in response to the media enquiries to any setbacks to the women’s cause, with the removal of woman in a role model portfolio that only men have had in the past.
“A lot of angry women at the removal of the Finance Minister kept my phone busy all morning.”
Cabinet re-shuffles is an undertaking Tuilaepa is familiar with also in his time as PM.
He even went as far as have one of his senior Minister’s resigned over differences in policy matters rather than any conflict as perceived in PM Fiame’s Cabinet re-shuffle.
“When you’re in a leadership role, you’re expected to do what is right regardless of how difficult it is, you’re not there to please people.”
He is not surprised either at the PM boosting the Cabinet’s count from 13 to 15 Ministers, a change approved during his time before the new FAST Government took over.
PM Fiame has now filled in the remaining seats she left open when she first put her Cabinet together.