Prime Minister of Samoa

Prime Minister of the
Independent State of
Samoa
Coat of arms of
the Independent State
of Samoa
Incumbent
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
since 23 November 1998
Appointer Tufuga Efi
O le Ao o le Malo
Inaugural holder Albert Barnes Steinberger
Formation 22 May 1875
Samoa
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Samoa
Constitution

The Prime Minister of Samoa is the head of government of the Independent State of Samoa, a sovereign country located in the Pacific Ocean.

History of the office

The first Prime Minister of Samoa was Albert Barnes Steinberger, who originally represented the American government in the Samoan Islands but was close to German commercial interests. After the indigenous authorities of the islands adopted the Constitution of 1873, Steinberger was appointed Prime Minister by the King Malietoa Laupepa in July 1875. He hold this post for seven months before the British and American consuls in the country persuaded Laupepa to dismiss him, seeing his role as German interference in the islands. Over the next two decades, there was no Prime Minister in the country, and in 1899 Samoa fell under the colonial rule of the Western powers, being divided as a German colony and an American colony at the end of the Second Samoan Civil War, according to the terms of the Tripartite Convention.[1]

At the beginning of the World War I, German Samoa was occupied by New Zealand in 1914, and was subsequently organized as a trust territory of New Zealand in 1920. The territory gained independence in 1962 as the Independent State of Samoa. The Constitution, adopted in 1960 during the transitional period of autonomy, provides that the executive power is vested in the head of state (O le Ao o le Malo), elected by the Legislative Assembly, and who acts only on the recommendation of the government. The head of state has a ceremonial role. The real executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and his cabinet. The Prime Minister is appointed by the head of state as a member of the Legislative Assembly who enjoys the confidence of a majority in the Legislative Assembly (Article 32 (2) (a)). The Prime Minister may be removed from office by the Legislative Assembly (Article 33 (1) (b)). Samoa is thus a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system.[2]

List of Prime Ministers of Samoa (1875–present)

№ Prime MinisterTook officeLeft officeTime in officePartyO le Ao o le Malo
(head of state)
1
Steinberger, Albert BarnesAlbert Barnes Steinberger
(1840–1894)		22 May 18758 February 1876262 daysIndependentLaupepa
Abolished (8 February 1876 – 1 October 1959)
2
Mulinu'u IIMata'afa
Mulinu'u II
(1921–1975)		1 October 195925 February 197010 years, 147 daysIndependentMeaʻole
Tanumafili II
3
Lealofi IVTupua Tamasese
Lealofi IV
(1922–1983)		25 February 197020 March 19733 years, 23 daysIndependentTanumafili II
(2)
Mulinu'u IIMata'afa
Mulinu'u II
(1921–1975)		20 March 197320 May 1975 †2 years, 61 daysIndependentTanumafili II
–
Lealofi IVTupua Tamasese
Lealofi IV
(1922–1983)
Acting		21 May 197524 March 1976308 daysIndependentTanumafili II
4
Efi, TufugaTupua Tamasese
Tufuga Efi
(born 1937)		24 March 197613 April 19826 years, 20 daysIndependentTanumafili II
5
Kolone, Va'aiVa'ai Kolone
(1911–2001)		13 April 198218 September 1982158 daysHRPPTanumafili II
(4)
Efi, TufugaTupua Tamasese
Tufuga Efi
(born 1937)		18 September 198231 December 1982104 daysIndependentTanumafili II
6
Alesana, Tofilau EtiTofilau Eti Alesana
(1924–1999)		31 December 198230 December 19853 years, 17 daysHRPPTanumafili II
(5)
Kolone, Va'aiVa'ai Kolone
(1911–2001)		30 December 19858 April 19882 years, 100 daysHRPPTanumafili II
(6)
Alesana, Tofilau EtiTofilau Eti Alesana
(1924–1999)		8 April 198823 November 199810 years, 229 daysHRPPTanumafili II
7
Malielegaoi, Tuilaepa Aiono SaileleTuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
(born 1945)		23 November 1998Incumbent19 years, 323 daysHRPPTanumafili II
Tufuga Efi
Va'aletoa Sualauvi II

Notes

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ Malama Meleisea, Lagaga: A Short History of Western Samoa, Apia, University of the South Pacific, 1987, ISBN 982-02-0029-6, pp.83-85
    2. ↑ Constitution of Samoa

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