Dear Editor,

YES, to monotaga. It goes with the territory of a matai holder. 

NO, to laws enforcing this as a qualification for electoral candidacy. Obviously, the family bestowing the suafa matai on someone thinks that he /she has shown both evidence of service and potential for leadership, which will continue.

Despite the P.M. thinking that Samoa is full of stupid idiots and those with uninformed, childish brains, (no wonder he can't trust his constituents to make an informed decision)  those who vote in the elections are perfectly capable of discerning whether or not a candidate has done his / her fair share towards family, village, church, and district. 

Taking these cases to Court to clear the way for a sole candidate is not only vexatious, it deprives the constituents of freedom of choice, particularly one week from the elections, when a lot of money has then been wasted on printing electoral rolls, ballot papers, etc. and it is too late to find a replacement candidate.

It's simple: if a person is running for election, give the constituents the opportunity to choose whether he/ she is worthy to represent them in Parliament, and stop wasting the Court's valuable time and the tax payers money.

P. Lautafa