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Ale Vena Ale | |
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Member of the Samoan Parliament | |
Assumed office 24 October 2023 | |
Preceded by | Vacant |
Constituency | Faleata No. 4 |
In office 9 April 2021 –19 July 2023 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Vacant |
Constituency | Faleata No. 4 |
In office 14 May 2010 –4 March 2011 | |
Preceded by | Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi |
Succeeded by | Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi |
Constituency | Faleata West |
Personal details | |
Born | 1951or1952(age 72–73) [1] |
Political party | |
Ale Vena Ale (born 1951/1952) is a Samoan politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He is a founding member of the Human Rights Protection Party. [1]
Ale had previously served as an MP [2] and as Public Service Commissioner. [3] He was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 2010 Faleata West by-election. [4] [5] He lost his seat at the 2011 Samoan general election.
Ale unsuccessfully contested the 2016 election. Following the election, he filed an unsuccessful election petition against the winning candidate. [6]
He was re-elected in the new seat of Faleata No. 4 at the 2021 Samoan general election. [7] Following the election he was the HRPP's choice for Deputy Speaker. [8] Following the 2021 Samoan constitutional crisis he called for a full review of the constitution to grant greater powers to the O le Ao o le Malo . [9]
In June 2022 Ale revealed that he was unhappy with the leadership of the HRPP and wanted to become an independent. [10] [11] He later urged HRPP leader Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi to step down as leader. [12] Most of Ale's constituents supported his exit from the party, with one of Ale's former campaign managers saying that he expressed dissatisfaction with the HRPP in private for a while. Ale expressed frustration towards Tuila'epa's poor responses to the HRPP's defeat in the 2021 general election to the newly formed Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi party, the disappointing showing at the 2021 by-elections and the failure to win subsequent legal challenges. Ale stated, "Those are the signs, and Tuila'epa knows it, but his refusal to even entertain any advice is taking its toll on the party members". Ale has not yet been able to leave the HRPP immediately due to a law passed in early 2021, in which if a member of parliament left their respective party to become an independent, a by-election would take place in their constituency. Ale subsequently began working with his lawyer to find a path to leave the HRPP without having to compete in a by-election to retain his seat. He admitted that the HRPP passed the law due to fears that many party caucus members would defect, as deputy prime minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa had done shortly before. He described the law as "discriminatory". HRPP members were reportedly surprised by Ale's statements, prompting Tuila'epa to hold an emergency press conference. The HRPP leader responded to Ale's comments by urging him to remember how he entered parliament when his predecessor Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi refused to retract his support for a party he was not a member of, triggering a by-election. [13]
On 3 November 2022 Ale and fellow MP Tuu'u Anasi'i Leota resigned from the HRPP to become independents, saying they did not want to remain in a party led by a leader guilty of contempt of court. [14] [15] Following a court challenge, their seats were declared vacant on 19 July 2023. [16] Ale said he would run as a FAST candidate in the resulting by-election. [17] [18]
He was re-elected as a FAST candidate in the 2023 Faleata No. 4 by-election, [19] and was sworn back into parliament on 24 October 2023. [20]
On 17 January 2025 he was fired as an associate minister by prime minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa after supporting her expulsion from the FAST party. [21]
The Human Rights Protection Party is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1979 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defeat in 2021. Former Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi has led the party since 1998.
SusugaTuilaʻepa Lupesoliai Neioti Aiono Saʻilele Malielegaoi is a Samoan politician and economist who served as the sixth prime minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021. Tuilaʻepa is Samoa's longest serving prime minister and was leader of the opposition from 2021 to 2022. Since 1998, he has led the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP). Tuilaʻepa first entered parliament in 1981 when he won a by-election to represent the electorate of Lepā. He also served as deputy prime minister and minister of finance in the government of Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana, and also held the portfolios of Tourism and Trade, Commerce & Industry.
AfiogaFiamē Naomi Mataʻafa is a Samoan politician and High Chief (matai) who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa.
The Legislative Assembly, also known as the Parliament of Samoa, is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan Parliament is composed of two parts: the O le Ao o le Malo and the Legislative Assembly.
Tuʻuʻu Anasiʻi Leota is a Samoan politician and former Cabinet Minister. Previously a member of the Human Rights Protection Party, he is now a member of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party.
SusugaLaʻaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt is a Samoan politician, businessman, and former Cabinet Minister, speaker and deputy speaker of the Samoan Parliament. 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.
The Tautua Samoa Party was a political party in Samoa. The party's policies include economic development, particularly in the agricultural sector, public service reform, a limit on the number of Associate Ministers, and a reduction in the term of Parliament from 5 to 3 or 4 years. Its president was Afualo Wood Salele.
Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi is a Samoan politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He is the founder of the Tautua Samoa Party.
Leatinuu Faumuina Asi Pauli Wayne Fong is a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister who has served as the minister of Commerce, Labour and Industry since 2021.
General elections were held in Samoa on 9 April 2021 to determine the composition of the 17th Parliament. The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), which had been in government for most of the time since 1982, was led into the election by Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi, who had served as prime minister since 1998. The passage of the controversial Land and Titles bills by the HRPP led some party members to defect, establishing the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party promising a repeal. FAST elected Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, the daughter of Samoa's first prime minister, as leader shortly before the election; she left the ruling party and resigned as deputy prime minister in 2020, also in opposition to the amendments.
Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi is a political party in Samoa. It was founded by MP La'auli Leuatea Polataivao and was led by Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa until she was removed from the party on 15 January 2025.
Papaliʻi Liʻo Oloipola Taeu Masipau is a Samoan politician and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa.
Mauʻu Siaosi Puʻepuʻemai is a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party.
General elections were due to be held in Samoa on 21 May 2021. They were called by O le Ao o le Malo Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II following the inconclusive results of the April 2021 election, but before the new parliament had even been convened or numerous electoral court petitions settled.
A constitutional crisis began in Samoa on 22 May 2021 when O le Ao o le Malo Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II issued a proclamation purporting to prevent the Legislative Assembly from meeting in the wake of the general election in April 2021. Court rulings had upheld the election results, giving a parliamentary majority to the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party, led by Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa. On 24 May 2021, a makeshift ceremony was held outside of Parliament to swear in Mata'afa as prime minister. On 23 July the Court of Appeal declared that the ceremony was binding and that FAST had been the government since that date.
Six simultaneous by-elections were held in Samoa on 26 November 2021. They were called in the aftermath of the 2021 Samoan general election, which resulted in seven seats being vacant due to resignations and convictions for bribery and treating. While seven by-elections were called, the contest in Falealupo was resolved without the need for a poll, after the Supreme Court declared the HRPP candidate Tuitogamanaia Peniamina Le'avai to be ineligible, resulting in the FAST Party's Fuiono Tenina Crichton being elected unopposed.
A by-election was held in the Faleata No. 4 constituency in Samoa on 15 September 2023. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of sitting MP Ale Vena Ale from the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) in order to become an independent in November 2022, due to dissatisfaction with party leadership. Following a protracted court battle, the seat was declared vacant on 19 July 2023. Ale joined the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party shortly after the announcement of the by-election and had one opponent, independent candidate Ulu Bismarck Crawley. Ale won in a landslide, earning 66% of the vote, which, in addition to FAST victories in two simultaneous by-elections in the Siʻumu and Vaʻa-o-Fonoti constituencies, gave the governing party a two-thirds parliamentary majority.
A by-election was held in the Siʻumu constituency in Samoa on 15 September 2023. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent member Tuʻuʻu Anasiʻi Leota from the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) in order to become an independent in November 2022. Following a protracted court battle, the seat was declared vacant in July 2023. Leota joined the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party shortly after the triggering of the by-election and is one of three candidates who contested the seat; the other two were Tuʻuʻu Amaramo Sialaoa of the HRPP and independent Faʻalogo Kapeli Lafaele. Leota reclaimed the seat, winning with 47% of the vote. His triumph, along with the success of the FAST candidates in the two concurrent by-elections in Faleata No. 4 and Vaʻa-o-Fonoti, handed FAST a two-thirds parliamentary majority.
A by-election was held in the Vaʻa-o-Fonoti constituency in Samoa on 15 September 2023. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the incumbent member Mauʻu Siaosi Puʻepuʻemai from the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) in order to become an independent in November 2022. Following a protracted court battle, the seat was declared vacant in July 2023. Mau‘u subsequently joined the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party and ran against two other candidates: former director-general of health Leausa Take Naseri for the HRPP and Feutagaʻiimealelei Osovale Brown of the newly founded Constitution Democracy Republic Party (CDRP). Mauʻu achieved a landslide victory, reclaiming the seat with 74% of the vote, while the HRPP candidate, who placed second, received 21%. As a result of FAST winning Vaʻa-o-Fonoti and the simultaneous Faleata No. 4 and Siʻumu by-elections, the party gained a parliamentary two-thirds majority.