Afioga Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Eti Sualauvi II (born 29 April 1947) is a Samoan politician who is the current

O le Ao o le Malo The Independent State of Samoa ( Samoan for "Chief of the government") is the ceremonial head of state of Samoa. The position is described in Part III of the 1960 Samoan constitution. At the time the constitution was adopted, it was anticipa ...

(head of state) of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, in office since 2017.

Biography

He is a great-grandson of one of the

Mau movement The Mau was a nonviolence, non-violent movement for Samoan independence from colony, colonial rule during the first half of the 20th century. ''Mau'' means 'resolute' or 'resolved' in the sense of 'opinion', 'unwavering', 'to be decided', o ...

leaders, Tuimalealiʻifano Faʻaoloiʻi Siʻuaʻana I, and grand-nephew of

Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II (1914 – 24 July 1974) was a Western Samoan paramount chief, politician and church elder. For most of the period between 1962 and 1974 he was the only member of the Council of Deputies, whose members se ...

, who was the inaugural member of the

Council of Deputies The Council of Deputies () is a constitutional body in Samoa. Its members serve as Deputy O le Ao o le Malo and act as head of state when the office of O le Ao o le Malo is vacant or when the incumbent is unable to fulfill their duties due to a ...

in 1962. He was appointed to the title of Tuimalealiʻifano in July 1977, a title formed out of a cadet branch of the Sā Tupua state dynasty and one of the four paramount chiefly titles of Samoa. He is married to Masiofo Faʻamausili Leinafo Tuimalealiʻifano.

Early career

He worked as a policeman, lawyer and previously was a Samoan Police Chief Inspector and a secondary school teacher. He was a police officer in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

for three years. He also served as a public-defender, public trustee, and barrister and solicitor in the Supreme Court of Samoa. He is an elder deacon and lay preacher for the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa in the village of Matautu Falelatai. He has preached sermons in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and New Zealand for the Christian Congregational Church of Samoa.

Political career

2001 parliamentary bid

During the 2001 general election, Tuimalealiʻifano ran for the legislative assembly contesting the constituency of Falelatai and Samatau as an independent candidate. His opponent was the incumbent representative Misa Telefoni Retzlaff of the Human Rights Protection Party. As a ''Tama-a-Aiga'' (lit. sons of the families) and holder of one of the four paramount Matai titles in Samoa, Tuimalealiʻifano filed his candidacy to restore prominence to his family title, which, according to him, went unrecognised in the public arena. He also pointed out that current and past holders of the other three paramount ''Tama-a-Aiga'' had various monuments honouring them, which was not the case for his title. Once Tuimalealiʻifano launched his candidacy, he sought the endorsement of the Falelatai village council; however, they instead backed Misa. The reason why they refused to support Tuimalealiʻifano was that they could not bare to see a ''Tama-a-Aiga'' be involved in a political conflict where they would face ridicule, damaging the title. The council also mentioned that should Tuimalealiʻifano be victorious, his role in parliament as an independent would most likely be minor. They instead attempted to convince Tuimalealiʻifano to remain a member of the

and explained to him that he was likely to become the next head of state. Tuimalealiʻifano refused to withdraw, to which the council responded, "then do as you please". He then continued to argue against the council's decision and brought up delicate issues which inflamed tensions between himself and the council. Tuimalealiʻifano was ultimately defeated in a landslide by Misa, earning 38% of the vote to his opponent's 61%. Tuimalealiʻifano's parliamentary bid left him in over WS$200,000 in debt. Increased tensions during the campaign led the village council to banish Tuimalealiʻifano from Falelatai several weeks after the election. Some individuals who voted for Tuimalealiʻifano were also banished.

O le Ao o le Malo

In 2017, he was elected to succeed

Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi (born Olaf "Efi" Tamasese; 1 March 1938) is a Samoan paramount chief and politician. He heads one of Samoa's two royal families, the ''Sā Tupua'' (descendants of Queen Salamasina), through the family ...

as the head of state (

) of Samoa, having previously been a member of the Council of Deputies to the Head of State from 1993 to 2001 and since 2004. He was sworn in on 21 July 2017. In 2019, he hosted the visit of President Russell M. Nelson of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. In May 2021, Sualauvi purported to revoke the results of the 2021 election and call new elections. The decision was overturned by the Samoa Supreme Court on 17 May 2021. Sualauvi then issued a proclamation to prevent the

Legislative Assembly 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 M ...

from meeting, triggering a

constitutional crisis In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the constitution, political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variat ...

. In July 2022 his term of office was extended until the next parliamentary sitting in August. On 23 August 2022 he was reappointed as head of state for a further five-year term. On 1 July 2022, his one-year term as the 29th chancellor of the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

commenced, succeeding

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

Dalton Tagelagi Dalton Emani Makamau Tagelagi (born 5 June 1968) is a Niuean politician who is serving as the sixth and current prime minister of Niue since June 2020. He was elected premier by the Niue Legislative Assembly on 11 June 2020, defeating O'Lov ...

. He was succeeded by

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

Governor-General David Vunagi in 2023.

Education

Sualauvi has a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LLB) degree from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

and a Certificate and Diploma in Theological Studies from Malua Theological College.

Notes

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sualauvi II, Vaaletoa 1947 births Australian National University alumni Living people Members of the Council of Deputies O le Ao o le Malo of Samoa Samoan police officers Tuimalealiʻifano Samoan Christian clergy Samoan lawyers Samoan Congregationalists 21st-century Samoan politicians