Leaupepe Toleafoa Apulu Faafisi (born 1947) is a Samoan politician. He has served as a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

and as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He is a member of the

Human Rights Protection Party The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, sm, Vaega Faaupufai e Puipuia Aia Tatau a Tagata) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1982 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defea ...

(HRPP). Faafisi was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa at the

1991 Samoan general election General elections were held in Western Samoa on 5 April 1991, to determine the composition of the 11th Parliament. The elections were the first since the introduction of universal suffrage following a referendum held the previous year. However, ...

as a candidate for the

Samoan National Development Party The Samoan National Development Party (SNDP) was a political party in Samoa, and the country's main opposition party between 1988 and 2003. The party was formed from a merger of the Christian Democratic Party and Samoa National Party in April 1988 ...

. He switched allegiance to the HRPP immediately after the election, and was appointed Deputy Speaker. In 1996 he was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. In 1998 he was hospitalised while attending the Commonwealth Speakers and Clerks Conference in

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

, Trinidad and Tobago. Following his re-election in 2001 he was appointed to the role for a second term. He was re-elected at the

2006 election The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential ...

and appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Police. He was not reappointed to Cabinet in 2011. In 2013 he advocated exporting dog meat to China as a measure for controlling stray animals. In 2016 he was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for a third term. As Speaker he oversaw the redevelopment of the new Parliament building. As Speaker, he was accused of lacking independence, of removing Members' speeches from ''Hansard'', and of taking direction in the House from Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi. in November 2020 he declared the seats of independent opposition MPs Olo Fiti Vaai and

Faumuina Asi Pauli Wayne Fong Leatinuu Faumuina Asi Pauli Wayne Fong (also known as Leatinuu Wayne So'oialo) (born June 1959) is a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister who has served as the minister of Commerce, Labour and Industry since 2021. Faumuina worked as a cargo m ...

vacant after they announced they would be standing as candidates for the F.A.S.T. party at the 2021 election. On 14 December 2020 the decision was declared unlawful and invalid by the

Supreme Court of Samoa The Supreme Court of Samoa () is the superior court dealing with the administration of justice in Samoa. It was established by Part VI of the Constitution of Samoa. It consists of the Chief Justice of Samoa and other judges as appointed by the He ...

. Faafisi retired at the April 2021 election. He was succeeded as MP in his electorate (now renamed Aana Alofi No. 2) by his son, Aiono Afaese Toleafoa. On 23 May 2021 during the

2021 Samoan constitutional crisis A constitutional crisis began in Samoa on 22 May 2021 when O le Ao o le Malo (Head of State) Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II issued a proclamation purporting to prevent the Legislative Assembly from meeting in the wake of the gene ...

Faafisi purported to cancel the first meeting of the new legislative assembly, in violation of an order from the Supreme Court.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Faafisi, Leaupepe Toleafoa Living people Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Human Rights Protection Party politicians Government ministers of Samoa 1947 births