“We are elected representatives of our constituencies for Parliament and we are members of the Opposition Party. Our role is to give our honest opinions about what is going on in this country”
Opposition leader, Palusalue Fa’apo II, is hardly surprised at Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi’s penchant to belittle people who question his decisions.
Asked about what he thought about being called a “small kid” with “silly” opinions by the Prime Minister, Palusalue laughed.
“That is just so typical of Tuilaepa, isn’t it?” he responded.
Now looking a lot more serious, the leader of the Tautua Samoa Party set out to correct Tuilaepa.
“The first thing I want to say is that we are not kids,” he said.
“We are elected representatives of our Constituencies for Parliament and we are members of the Opposition Party. Our role is to give our honest opinions about what is going on in this country.”
Palusalue was responding to Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s comments last week, during which he compared Palusalue and his party members to “small kids.”
The Prime Minister was defending Constitution Amendment Bill (No.2), which proposes to change a number of laws in the Constitution.
Opposition leader, Palusalue Fa’apo II, is hardly surprised at Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi’s penchant to belittle people who question his decisions.
Asked about what he thought about being called a “small kid” with “silly” opinions by the Prime Minister, Palusalue laughed.
“That is just so typical of Tuilaepa, isn’t it?” he responded.
Now looking a lot more serious, the leader of the Tautua Samoa Party set out to correct Tuilaepa.
“The first thing I want to say is that we are not kids,” he said.
“We are elected representatives of our Constituencies for Parliament and we are members of the Opposition Party. Our role is to give our honest opinions about what is going on in this country.”
Palusalue was responding to Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s comments last week, during which he compared Palusalue and his party members to “small kids.”
The Prime Minister was defending Constitution Amendment Bill (No.2), which proposes to change a number of laws in the Constitution.
The Bill will strip members of the Legislative Assembly of their power to nominate and vote for the Head of State (H.O.S). Another amendment affects the appointment of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament. They too will be chosen by the government if the bill is passed.
The government is also pushing to change the Individual Voters roll to create two Urban Constituency seats.
Inside and outside of Parliament, Palusalue – and his Party - has strongly criticised Prime Minister Tuilaepa, accusing him of destroying the Constitution.
But Tuilaepa said Palusalue does not understand what he was talking about.
Asked for a comment, Palusalue shook his head.
“This is always Tuilaepa’s way when someone says something he doesn't like, he calls them stupid, that is his way.
“Then he becomes personal with his responses but [all] we are talking about [are the real] issues.”
Palusalue also suggested that the problem with Tuilaepa is that he thinks he is the only “intelligent person in the world.”
“But if he is as clever as he thinks he is, he would have a better idea about what’s happening in his own party. If he was that smart, nothing should be happening within his party.”
The Opposition leader suggested that the frictions emerging from the Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P) are the result of Tuilaepa’s “so-called intelligence.”
“There are so many divisions because of his intelligence,” Palusalue said.
The leader of the Opposition maintained that he believes Tuilaepa is changing the Constitution because he wants to be the Head of State.
He also questioned why the amendments were not discussed in Cabinet.
“He didn’t bring it into Cabinet and that’s according to Members of Parliament and the Ministers that I have spoken,” said Palusalue. “The matter was never brought before Cabinet.”
He also rubbished claims by Tuilaepa that he had hurt the Head of State with comments he made about the Casino laws.
“The Prime Minister shouldn’t be so disrespectful of the Head of State. Nor should he have involved him in such political ramblings.”
According to Palusalue, he visited the Head of State at the time “to give him our views on the Bill.”
“I didn’t go to apologise to the Head of State, I went to discuss our views on the bill. It is not true that I had hurt the Head of State.”
Overall, Palusalue claims that criticisms towards him and other M.P.’s are personal attacks by Tuilaepa to divert attention from the real issues.
“Our [Tautua Party] belief is that the current process in the selection of the Head of State is respectable and official.”
Lastly, Palusalue laughed at Tuilaepa’s claim that he is closely linked to all the Tama a Aiga titles.
“Why tell the country that? Only a bird praises itself. In this country, everybody is a king.”
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