VILLAGE LEADERSHIP MATTER : Tuilaepa asserts village leadership authority in political matters
By Staff Writer
‘Outsiders’ deciding for the villages who should run as election candidates for the constituency seat is a concern to the HRPP opposition leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
The protest reaction is in response to reports of the ruling FAST party asserting their will on candidates the village leaders should select for the elections.
“This should stop, it creates trouble by challenging the leadership role of the chiefs and orators in the villages to make their own choices,’ Tuilaepa warns as the election campaigning pace picks up for the finishing line.
“Outsiders should not determine for the villages who candidates should be for the constituency vote.”
The HRPP leader argued that the pathway for choice of candidates is always through the approval of the chiefs and orators.
Tuilaepa gave a strong reminder that this was the pathway the foundation fathers set for Samoa from the outset, in deference to the traditional leadership of the village chiefs and orators.
Tuilaepa is determined to have in place, if back in Government, new legal guidelines to prevent against the controlling influence of outsiders inside the villages.
The concern is alleged against the FAST party election campaign touring rallies sweeping across the villages.
The added worry is how all this continues to prolong ongoing political divisions in families, villages and the country.
This is a concern Tuilaepa has already listed at the top of his priority ‘fix it’ list if return to rule.
“Since the 3 plus years of FAST rule, the party infighting and frictions has remained to keep families divided in Samoa and within the diaspora.”
He is determined to put an end to all this.
“What is needed is a Government that can restore harmony in the country and I am confident the HRPP has the support and the reach to make all that possible.
“Our priority is to resolve family divisions in Samoa and in the diaspora.”
