Prime Minister of Samoa

Colonial period

The first prime minister during the colonial period 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 King Malietoa Laupepa in July 1875. He held 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.^[4]

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.

Post-independence period

The position of prime minister replaced the office of the leader of government business in 1959, whilst the country was a territory of New Zealand. High chief Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II became Samoa’s first prime minister on 1 October 1959.^[5]

After Samoa (then known as Western Samoa) gained independence on 1 January 1962, the prime minister's office remained intact, and the premiership of Fiamē Mata’afa continued.^[5] The head of state, or O le Ao o le Malo (initially held by two individuals), was established as a ceremonial office.^[6] In 1991, the legislative assembly passed a bill proposed by Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana's Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) to increase the parliamentary term (and hence the premiership) from three to five years. Which therefore extended the time a prime minister can serve without renewing their mandate.^[7]

From 24 May to 23 July 2021, the premiership was in dispute due to an inconclusive result from the 2021 general election and the subsequent constitutional crisis. The claimants were long-serving prime minister Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi of the HRPP, and Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa of Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST), a former deputy prime minister and daughter of Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II. On 23 July, the Supreme Court ruled that Fiamē Naomi’s FAST government was legitimate since 24 May. Tuila'epa conceded defeat on 26 July and ceded power the following day, resulting in Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa becoming Samoa’s first female prime minister and ending nearly 35 years of HRPP rule.^[8][9][10]

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 royal assent powers to sign bills into law and dissolve Parliament. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and their 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.^[11]

Political parties

Status

Symbols

^† Died in office

Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Samoa (1875–1876)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Election	Term of office			Political party	Monarch
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Albert Barnes Steinberger (1840–1894)	—	22 May 1875	8 February 1876	262 days	Independent	Laupepa
Post abolished (8 February 1876 – 1 October 1959)

Prime Ministers of the Independent State of Samoa (1959–present)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Election (Parliament)	Term of office			Political party	O le Ao o le Malo (Head(s) of state)
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II (1921–1975)	1961 (1st) 1964 (2nd) 1967 (3rd)	1 October 1959	25 February 1970	10 years, 147 days	Independent	Meaʻole Tanumafili II
2		Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV (1922–1983)	1970 (4th)	25 February 1970	20 March 1973	3 years, 23 days	Independent	Tanumafili II
(1)		Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II (1921–1975)	1973 (5th)	20 March 1973	20 May 1975[†]	2 years, 61 days	Independent
—		Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV (1922–1983) Acting prime minister	— (5th)	21 May 1975	24 March 1976	308 days	Independent
3		Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi (born 1938)	1976 (6th) 1979 (7th)	24 March 1976	13 April 1982	6 years, 20 days	Independent
4		Vaʻai Kolone (1911–2001)	1982 (8th)	13 April 1982	18 September 1982	158 days	HRPP
(3)		Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi (born 1938)	— (8th)	18 September 1982	31 December 1982	104 days	Independent
5		Tofilau Eti Alesana (1924–1999)	— (8th) 1985 (9th)	31 December 1982	30 December 1985	2 years, 364 days	HRPP
(4)		Vaʻai Kolone (1911–2001)	— (9th) 1988 (10th)	30 December 1985	8 April 1988	2 years, 100 days	HRPP
(5)		Tofilau Eti Alesana (1924–1999)	— (10th) 1991 (11th) 1996 (12th)	8 April 1988	23 November 1998	10 years, 229 days	HRPP
6		Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi (born 1945)	— (12th) 2001 (13th) 2006 (14th) 2011 (15th) 2016 (16th)	23 November 1998	24 May 2021	22 years, 182 days	HRPP	Tanumafili II Tamasese Efi Vaʻaletoa Sualauvi II
7		Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa (born 1957)	2021 (17th)	24 May 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 341 days	FAST	Vaʻaletoa Sualauvi II

• Samoa
  • Politics of Samoa
  • List of colonial governors of Samoa
  • O le Ao o le Malo
  • Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa
• Lists of office-holders

• World Statesmen – Samoa