The Samoan Democratic United Party (SDUP) was the main opposition

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

from 2003 to 2008. The SDUP was formed in 2003 from 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 ...

(SNDP) and the

Samoan United Independent Party Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

(SUIP). During the

2006 Samoan general election General elections were held in Samoa on 31 March 2006 to determine the composition of the 14th Parliament. The main contesting parties were that of incumbent Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, of the Human Rights Protection Party (H ...

, they won 10 of the 49 seats, but one member lost his seat after an election petition ruling in August 2006. At the end of August 2006, the party announced it had a new leader,

Asiata Sale'imoa Va'ai Dr Asiata Alaelua Va'alepa Sale'imoa Va'ai (25 May 1945 – 2 September 2010) was a Samoan politician and lawyer. He was Member of Parliament for the territorial constituency of Satupa'itea and the leader of the Samoan United Independents Politi ...

. The long-standing former leader,

Le Mamea Ropati Tuiletufuga Le Mamea Ropati Mualia is a Samoan politician, and member of the Council of Deputies. Over his career he has served as a Cabinet Minister, Leader of the Opposition and represented the constituency for Lefaga & Falese'ela for over thi ...

, had disputed the change of leadership. Following the departure of Ropati and his deputy Sililoto Tolo Tuaifaiva, the party dropped to seven MPs, and ceased to be recognised in the House. As a result, all its members were considered to be independents. Court action challenging the Speaker's ruling was repeatedly delayed. In the interim, the party's deputy leader, Aeau Peniamina Le'avai, resigned, while another MP, Sililoto Tolo Tua'ifaiva, died. In August 2007 party leader

was charged with contempt of court after accusing the judiciary of bias over delays in the court case. In April 2008 most remaining SDUP MPs agreed to form a new party, which eventually became the

Tautua Samoa Party ) , flag = , website tautuasamoaparty.com The Tautua Samoa Party ( sm, Vaega Faaupufai le Tautua Samoa) is a political party in Samoa. The party's policies include economic development, particularly in the agricultural sector, public service r ...

. In September 2010, the leaders of the SDUP, including

Tuia Paepae Letoa Tuia is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alessandro Tuia (born 1990), Italian footballer *Pio Tuia Pio Iosefo Tuia (born 1943) has been , Heads of Government of Tokelau, head of government of Tokelau, six times. The positio ...

and

Mulipola Oliva Leiataualesa Taupau Mulipola Oliva (born 1974) is a Samoan politician and former member of the Samoan Parliament. When elected in 2006 he was Samoa's youngest MP. Oliva was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa as a Samoan Democrati ...

asked to run as HRPP candidates. The party was finally deregistered in February 2020 after not paying its registration fee.

People

Leaders

(?–2006) *

(2006–2010)

References

Political parties in Samoa Politics of Samoa Political organisations based in Samoa *Main {{Samoa-party-stub