The Honourable Susuga
Laʻauli Leuatea Polataivao
La'aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt in 2020
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Scientific Research
Assumed office
24 May 2021[lower-alpha 1]
Prime MinisterFiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Preceded byLopao'o Natanielu Mua
In office
19 March 2016 – 22 August 2017
Prime MinisterTuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi
Preceded byLe Mamea Ropati[lower-alpha 2]
Succeeded byLopao'o Natanielu Mua
Deputy Leader of Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi
Assumed office
9 March 2021
LeaderFiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Preceded byOlo Fiti Vaai
Other offices held
Leader of Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi
In office
30 July 2020 – 9 March 2021
DeputyOlo Fiti Vaai[1]
Preceded byPosition Established
Succeeded byFiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa
In office
18 March 2011 – 16 March 2016
Preceded byTolofuaivalelei Falemoe Lei’ataua
Succeeded byToleafoa Faafisi
Member of the Samoan Parliament
for Gagaʻifomauga No. 3
Assumed office
31 March 2006
Preceded byVagana Peleiʻupu Tamate
Personal details
Born
Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt
Political partyFaʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (since 2020)
Other political
affiliations		Human Rights Protection Party (until 2020)

Susuga Laʻaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt[2][3] is a Samoan politician, businessman, Cabinet Minister, and former speaker and deputy speaker of the Samoan Parliament.[4] He is the Member of Parliament for the Gagaʻifomauga No. 3 constituency and is the founder and chairman of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party.[5][6]

Early life and political career

Schmidt is the son of former Government Minister and founding member of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) Polataivao Fosi Schmidt.[7] He was first elected to the Fono as a candidate for the HRPP in the March 2006 elections. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Deputy Speaker. He was re-elected at the 2011 election and served as Speaker from 2011 to 2016.[8] He was again re-elected at the 2016 election and appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Scientific Research.[9] He subsequently served as acting Prime Minister.

In August 2017, Schmidt resigned as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and remained Member of Parliament as he had a lengthy legal battle with HRPP MP Peseta Vaifou Tevaga.[10] He was subsequently charged with more than a hundred counts of forgery and theft.[11] He was acquitted of all charges in June 2020.[12]

Departure from HRPP and by-election

In May 2020 he was sacked from the HRPP by Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi after voting against proposed constitutional amendments.[13] He subsequently announced he had resigned from the HRPP and that he would be forming a new political party to contest the 2021 election.[14][15]

On 30 June 2020, the Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee found that Schmidt had misled Parliament over the disputed price of a generator during a debate and recommended that he be suspended from Parliament for three months without pay.[16][17] Schmidt apologised to the House and verbally resigned his seat.[18] After some initial doubt, the verbal resignation was deemed to be effective, and a by-election was called.

On 30 July Schmidt registered the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Party to contest in the 2021 Elections.[19] He ran as a candidate for the party in the 2020 Gagaifomauga No. 3 byelection[20] and was successfully re-elected.[21][22][23]

Government

Schmidt was re-elected in the 2021 Samoan general election. On 24 May 2021 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in the elected cabinet of Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa.[24] The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding, and that FAST had been the government since 24 May.[25][26][27]

Notes

  1. ↑ Disputed: 24 May 2021 – 23 July 2021
  2. ↑ As Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

References

  1. ↑ "Samoa's former deputy pm to join new political party". RNZ. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  2. ↑ Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (22 September 2020). "Chiefs defend "La'aulialemalietoa" title". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "LISI O SUI USUFONO O LE PALEMENE LONA XVII MA ITUMALO PALOTA 17 SETEMA 2021" (PDF). samoagovt.ws. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  4. ↑ Profile Archived 2007-08-24 at the Wayback Machine at the Samoan Fono
  5. ↑ "Our Aiga" – via fastparty.was.
  6. ↑ "Fiame to lead Samoa's FAST Party". RNZ. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  7. ↑ " Following in their fathers' foot steps into Samoa politics" Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine, EventPolynesia.com, 8 April 2006.
  8. ↑ "IPU PARLINE database: SAMOA (Fono ), ELECTIONS IN 2011".
  9. ↑ "Samoa Tautua and HRPP MPs to play role of opposition". RNZ. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Charged Cabinet Minister Resigns in Samoa". Talani. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Tina Mata'afa-Tufele (26 May 2020). "Acting CJ to deliver Laauli ruling in June". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Samoan MP found not guilty but media man guilty of forgery". RNZ. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "More ructions in Samoa's ruling HRPP". RNZ. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Lanuola Tusani Tupufia – Ah Tong (1 June 2020). "Former Speaker La'auli resigns from H.R.P.P." Samoa Observer. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "Former ruling HRPP MP to establish new political party in Samoa". RNZ. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "La'auli, how dare you steal Tuilaepa's thunder?". Samoa Observer. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  17. ↑ Lanuola Tusani Tupufia – Ah Tong (30 June 2020). "Parliament Committee recommends for La'auli to be suspended". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  18. ↑ Lanuola Tusani Tupufia – Ah Tong (30 June 2020). "La'auli resigns from Parliament". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  19. ↑ Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (30 July 2020). "F.A.S.T. political party officially registers". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  20. ↑ "Two candidates for Samoa by-election". RNZ. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  21. ↑ Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (18 August 2020). "La'auli declared by-election winner". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. ↑ "Former Speaker tops prelim results in Samoan by-election". RNZ. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  23. ↑ Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (28 August 2020). "La'auli opens new political chapter". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  24. ↑ Marieta H Ilalio (25 May 2021). "Fiame Sworn in as Prime Minister under Marquees on Parliament Grounds". Samoa Global News. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  25. ↑ Lanuola Tusani Tupufia - Ah Tong (23 July 2021). "F.A.S.T. declared new Government as appeal upheld". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  26. ↑ "First FAST Cabinet Down to Work – When the Impossible Happens". Talamua Online. 29 July 2021. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  27. ↑ "Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries". www.samoagovt.ws. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
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