Political disasters and facts about the Constitution of Samoa. Part V

This is the most important part of this conversation for readers and other followers especially those who did not see the Constitution of Samoa before. 

It covers very important information about the frame of the Constitution, the structure of the Constitution, the analysis of the Constitution, the falling apart of the frame and the structure of the Constitution, the methods that was used to destroy the frame and the structure of the Constitution as well as the new face of the Constitution within our country. 

This is the main information I was referring to in the past. 

I informed readers and other followers in my other letters that there is a lot more about the inconsistency of the Prime Minister’s opinions regarding the Constitutional Amendment about Christianity and the outcome of his opinions. 

There are lots of unnecessary things that have immerged from that situation. The inconsistencies of opinions and outcome of opinions are already covered in other parts of this conversation. So the main focus of this conversation is about how the Constitution of Samoa has been affected due to political purposes that I call a political scandal.  

To start with, let me first re-quote some comments of the Prime Minister that I have used before about the removal of the phrase “Samoa is founded on God” from the cover of the Constitution and the repealing of “references about Christianity” from the preamble of the Constitution. Samoa Observer 26 January 2017 (Parliament backs Samoa being declared Christian state) “With the amendment, Tuilaepa said Christianity will no longer be at the Cover or the preamble of the Constitution. Rather it will become an integral part of the body of the Constitution.” 

“The phrase “Samoa is founded on God” will no longer be used. Instead, under the Constitution, it will be, “Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

The Prime Minister’s comments as mentioned above are accurately arranged according to the FRAME of the Constitution which is the cover, the preamble and the body. There are three parts that formed up a one unit. That one unit is called a Supreme Law of Samoa. It says in the Constitution in Part 1 / Article 2 (1)

“This Constitution shall be the supreme law of Samoa.” That is the FRAME of the Constitution. The COVER is the exterior protection of the Constitution. The title of the Constitution is on the cover which is “Samoa is founded on God.” The STRUCTURE of the Constitution is the ‘Analysis’ that is on the PREAMBLE. The ‘Analysis’ as laid out on the preamble of the original of the Constitution is an allocation of three major sections. 

Section 1 contains 12 different main Parts that produced 124 different Articles. The 124 different Articles are founding governing provisions to govern the State, the Government and the Public Service. Section 2 contains three Schedules about the election of the Head of State, the election of members of Parliament and the forms of oath.

Section 3 is the ‘declaration’ of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence. Right below the ‘declaration’ are signatories of Samoa’s founding fathers who framed the Constitution. The total number of Samoa’s founding fathers on the list is 169.    

The BODY of the Constitution is taken from the structure. That is, the outline of the body matched the structure or the ‘Analysis’ on the preamble. It is just like the arrangement plan of contents of the Introduction and the body of the Bible. The Introduction is the lists of different books but the body is the same list of books with full details.

The listing of books in the body starting from pages at the beginning until the last page follows the same listing order on the Introduction. The only difference between the Constitution and the Bible about the comparison as mentioned above is that the Section 3 (the declaration) that is on the preamble is available only on the preamble (introduction).

There are no further details or expansion details of Section 3 that is on the preamble within the body of the Constitution. In other words, there is no Section 3 in the body of the Constitution. 

I believe, the reason why there are no expansion details of the declaration within the body of the Constitution is because, the declaration as it stands on the preamble according to the ‘Analysis’ of the structure on the preamble is already made explicitly. 

It was expressed in plain and specific terms. It needs no more further details. That means the declaration that is already expressed in full detail on the preamble is a fine, complete and an adequate product of our founding fathers. A fine, complete and an adequate product is a design of a solution that accounts for problems of all sorts of any eras. 

Therefore, according to the “frame” and the “structure” of the Constitution as explained above, neither Section 1 nor Section 2 is the ‘declaration’ of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence. Section 3 is the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence but Section 1 and Section 2 are referring as founding governing rules which are commonly known as ‘provisions’ in those two sections for governing of the Independent State of Samoa, the Government and the Public Service.

Those provisions are classified and explained in full details under 124 different Articles and under three different schedules in the “body” of the Constitution. 

If we take for an example the situation that there are further expansions details of the declaration already laid out within the body by framers, they can all be found on a separate specific section in the body because the arrangement of sections in the body must follow the same arrangement of sections on the preamble.

Therefore if the framers would have thought of doing something like that, they would have certainly placed the expansions details about the declaration specifically and separately as Section 3 in the body but not in a mix with details of provisions of Section 1 and Section 2. 

Let me quote again down here the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence for information.

 “IN THE HOLY NAME OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, THE EVER LOVING

WHEREAS sovereignty over the Universe belongs to the Omnipresent God alone, and 

the authority to be exercised by the people of Western Samoa within the limits prescribed 

by His commandments is a sacred heritage; WHEREAS the Leaders of Western Samoa have declared that Western Samoa should be an Independent State based on Christian principles and Samoan custom and tradition;…”

By looking at the remarks of the declaration as quoted above and by looking at where the declaration stands on the preamble, they have indicated only one main purpose. The main purpose is the foundation of the whole Constitution. In other words, the foundation of provisions in Section 1 and Section 2 is the declaration.

Therefore, in terms of the legal status and the Constitutional condition for classification of the declaration and provisions according to the framing of the cover and the structure on the preamble of the Constitution, they are different. The declaration “Samoa is founded on God” on the cover and the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence (as quoted above) on the preamble; they are not provisions but declarations. 

Declaration is the foundation and because the declaration is the foundation so therefore, the declaration is unchangeable but the provisions are changeable (amends and repeal) based on issues and social and cultural changes. 

The changes needed to be done with provisions must be done under the control of the declaration because the provisions are founded upon the declaration. That piece of information is small but it is very important. So it is very, very important for the people of Samoa to know that the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence is not a provision.  

The other very important situation that the people of Samoa should know is the power or the authority of Parliament over the declaration and provisions when it comes to the cases of amendments and repealing. There is an authority that allows Parliament to do any amendments or repeals to any provisions.

The authority is Article 109. However, out of 127 provisions (124 Articles / 3 Schedules) in the body of the Constitution, there is zero or no provision that allows Parliament to do any amendments or repeals to the declaration. The framers or the founding fathers did not provide any provision to allow Parliament to amend and to repeal the declaration.

Because the declaration on the cover and on the preamble (foundation of Samoa and declaration of Samoa’s Independence) is already broken and destroyed by the Prime Minister, therefore it is a must for the Prime Minister to provide for the people of our country the information about the authority from the Constitution that allowed him and Parliament to break and to destroy the declaration. 

This is how I define the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence according to the context of the declaration and the Constitution. 

The declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence is a special testimony about Samoa’s covenant with God. The declaration on the cover and on the preamble is an everlasting covenant between Samoa and God. Not only that but also, it is Samoa’s confession to the world about what and who they are.

That is, Samoa’s Independence is a victory from God. Samoa’s victory is Samoa’s confession to the United Nations and to the world that Samoans are proud Christians who served only one king, the King of kings, the King of the world and He is the Creator of the universe. 

Samoans are happy to serve their King with their own customs and traditions. In addition to that definition, the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence on the other hand is a great piece of reference to the faith, wisdom and foresight of our fore-parents and our founding leaders. 

The sound of that definition reminds us again that the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence are unchangeable. So right here at this point, this is where the Samoan idiom about the foundation of Samoa which is “E sui faiga ae le suia le fa’avae” fits in perfectly. That expression is so true about the Constitution of Samoa.

The proof is in the Constitution as explained above. The framers of the Constitution, they did not state any provision that authorises the Parliament to change (amends and repeal) the DECLARATION, the FRAME and the SRUCTURE on the preamble. The ‘fa’avae’ is referring to the declaration on the cover and the declaration on the preamble but the ‘faiga’ is referring to provisions in Section 1 and 2 in the body. The case of “E sui faiga ae le suia le fa’avae” is the responsibility of the government. 

The government body was adopted by Samoa from Germany and New Zealand Administrations during colonialism. But before colonialism, Samoa already heard about the term government from the Bible. So the government system was not new to Samoans during the times of colonialism.

The only problem with Samoa about that situation was that Samoa has never experienced it because Samoa has never had a real government body before the times of colonialism. Samoa was operated with its own customary and traditional systems like fono a matai or village councils, faa-taulelea, aualuma and others.

Samoa’s first experience of government was during the time of colonialism when Germany took over Samoa. Germany formed up a single unit called a government body to manage all affairs of Samoa that was handled before by village councils. 

When New Zealand took over Samoa from Germany, New Zealand encouraged and followed the same process. The process of government was governed by rules and laws of New Zealand government and United Nations.

Through the process of government, Samoan leaders were able to address and negotiate with New Zealand Samoa’s desire of becoming independent and take operations of its own self-government. It led to the first step of drafting of a Constitution for Samoa before independence. It has to be in operation starting from independence. There were two government officials of New Zealand who helped out Samoan leaders to draft the Constitution.

The provisions (faiga / faiga o tu’utu’uga) of the Constitution still contain equalities with New Zealand and the United Nation models. All provisions (faiga / faiga o tu’utu’uga) of the Constitution are classified and explained in details under Section 1 and Section 2 in the body of the Constitution.  

The adoption of the government system into our country does not mean that any led political government responsible for taking care of Samoa is the continuity of colonial control. When the founding fathers fought for independence, they also fought for big changes with foreign provisions in order to suit circumstances and satisfactions of Samoans. The provisions with colonial features were all converted according to Samoa’s background and circumstances.

Despite of the fact that the colonial features of provisions were not fully converted but the founding fathers of our country, they still put in a huge effort for changes. Therefore the ‘faiga’ that are in Section 1 and Section 2 are subjected for changes depending on issues and necessary changes under the control of the declaration.

That should be the focus of any elected government as opposed to the political mentality of continuity of colonial control. Also, the ‘faiga’ should be a responsibility that must be carried out by any elected government in order to fulfill the meaning and purpose of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence as mentioned in the ‘declaration’ but not the fulfilling of personal satisfactions and political satisfactions of any elected government. Any elected government is not a foreign entity; it is a property of the people of Samoa.  

Therefore the main responsibility of any elected government in the Parliament of Samoa is ensuring that they keep and protect the foundation of Samoa by not changing of the frame and the structure of the Constitution for any reasons or for any means. They can change the ‘faiga’ that is in the body but they can’t change the ‘faavae’.

The faavae is for every generation of Samoa. It should be free from political influences and corruption. Different elected governments come and go and come and go and so on and on and on but the foundation of Samoa should remain unchanged as guidance for every generation. So the message for all of us from that situation is very clear. It is un-Constitutional and unlawful for any elected government to do any changes to the “Faavae o Samoa” on the cover and on the preamble of the Constitution.  

Unfortunately, the “Faavae o Samoa” is already broken and destroyed by the current elected government. I have already explained in previous parts of this conversation the reasons why they broke and destroyed the “Faavae o Samoa”. The only side that is left without explanation that needs explanation for is how they broke and destroyed the “Faavae o Samoa”. 

As far as I know, the destruction was started from the term ‘Analysis’, the title of the structure on the preamble. On the preamble of the Constitution, the term ‘Analysis’ which is the title of the structure on the preamble is already repealed and replaced with a new title called ‘Arrangement of Provisions’. There is no provision in the Constitution that allows Parliament to amend and to repeal the title ‘Analysis’ on the structure that is on the preamble of the Constitution. The title ‘Analysis’ is not a provision even the structure of the Constitution is not a provision. 

This is the only provision in the Constitution that allows Parliament to amend and repeal any provisions of the Constitution but it does not allow the Parliament to go further than that. I quote this provision from the Constitution. This provision is in the body under Section 1 – Part XI / Article 109 (1).

 “109. Amendment of Constitution

(1) Any of the provisions of this Constitution may be amended or repealed by Act, and new provisions may be inserted in this Constitution by Act, if a bill for any such purpose is supported at its third reading by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the total number of Members of Parliament (including vacancies) and if not fewer than 90 days elapse between the second and third readings of that bill:

Provided that no bill amending, repealing or adding to the provisions of Article 102 or the provisions of this proviso shall be submitted to the Head of State for assent until it has been submitted to a poll of the electors on the rolls for the territorial constituencies established under the provisions of Article 44 and unless it has been supported by two-thirds of the valid votes cast in such a poll…”  

There is no connection of Parliament’s authority in that provision to the frame, structure and the “Faavae o Samoa” or the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence. The frame is not a provision, the structure is not provision and the “Faavae o Samoa” that is on the preamble is not a provision. Remember, all provisions of the Constitution are classified and explained in full details in the body of the Constitution under Section 1 and Section 2. They are subject to changes depending on issues and necessary changes arise from time to time. According to Article 109 as quoted above, only the provisions that can be amended and repealed by Parliament.

I have no idea at all about how the current elected government changed the title ‘Analysis’ with the new title of ‘Arrangement of Provisions’ without any Constitutional authority or legal authority to do it. The only thing I can say about that situation based upon the inconsistencies of the Prime Minister’s opinions and the outcome of his opinions is that the changing of the title ‘Analysis’ with the new title of ‘Arrangement of Provisions’ is a surmise. Surmise is the method. Making changes such as amendments and repealing on the basis of surmise is unlawful. 

Remember, it says in the Constitution in Part 1 / Article 2 (1) “This Constitution shall be the supreme law of Samoa.” So the cover and the preamble of the Constitution are lawful because they are parts of the Constitution.

That means, if the Prime Minister and Parliament want to change anything on the cover and on the preamble, they must follow the legal process. Don’t follow their illegal process; their suppositions. They must search for a legal authority from the Constitution.

The framers that framed the Constitution, they framed it with three parts as explained in the beginning. That is the cover, the preamble (structure) and the body. When it says in the Constitution in Part 1 – Article 2 (1) “This Constitution shall be the supreme law of Samoa” then it means, the framers were referring to the whole unit – cover, preamble (structure) and the body. Therefore, a partial Constitution with missing parts is not a Constitution and it is not a supreme law of Samoa.

Therefore, the makings of assumptions that the cover and the preamble are not important are lies. Most importantly, the changing of contents on the cover and on the preamble of the Constitution based on those assumptions and lies is a crime. 

This is the crime which I believe is already committed by the current elected government. The repealing and the replacing of the title ‘Analysis’ with the title of ‘Arrangement of Provisions’ without a legal authority to allow that situation to happen. The repealing and replacing of the title ‘Analysis’ with the new title of ‘Arrangement of Provisions’ was an illegal attempted in order to convert the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence on the preamble into a provision.

In other words, once the structure of the preamble entitles as ‘Arrangement of Provisions’ then all the contents on the preamble including the declaration and the list of the founding fathers will all be classifying as provisions of the Constitution. 

That illegal action can allow the Parliament to overrule the declaration with powers of Parliament that are in Article 109 as already quoted above and Article 43 (Article 43- the Parliament can establish any Act subject to the provision of the Constitution). Right now, the Prime Minister has already repealed the declaration “Samoa is founded on God” from the cover and also repealed the declaration of Samoa’s foundation and Samoa’s Independence from the preamble. It was already reformed into H.R.P.P’s version and inserted in the body under Section 1. 

Inserting of Christianity in the body under Section 1 is colonizing of all Churches in our country. That means, the Prime Minister is taking over every highest regards in Churches. Everything about our country is all under the control of a one person. That is the new face of the Constitution of our country. 

Furthermore, if the Constitution is correct about Part 1 / Article 2 (1) “This Constitution shall be the supreme law of Samoa”, then all the following opinions (interpretations) of the Prime Minister are incorrect. 

1) Samoa Observer 21 May 2016 (P.M. pushes ahead with Constitution amendment) “Looking at the Constitution as it stands today, Tuilaepa said the preamble only talks about Christianity and Samoan traditions but that carries no weight.” 

2) Samoa Observer 30 May 2016 (P.M. aims to “correct” Constitution) ““To correct what the papalagi did. Our forebears wanted that inserted in the body of the Constitution. The preamble is not important but inside the body of the Constitution, it should have these words inserted that Samoa is founded on Christian principles and values period to make it very clear.”” 

3) Samoa Observer 26 January 2017 (Parliament backs Samoa being declared Christian state) “With the amendment, Tuilaepa said Christianity will no longer be at the Cover or the preamble of the Constitution. Rather it will become an integral part of the body of the Constitution. “The phrase “Samoa is founded on God” will no longer be used. Instead, under the Constitution, it will be, “Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” 

4) Samoa Observer 09 June 2017 (Freedom of religion not threatened: A.G.) “When the Bill was introduced, Prime Minister Tuilaepa said the Constitution’s reference to Christianity was only in the Preamble.

This was inadequate, he said. “Inadequate in terms of how Samoa as a Christian State is not included in the body of the Constitution. Instead it is in the cover and the preamble of the Constitution, not within the body of the Constitution. “This shows that it is not part of the Constitution. This does not stand in Court as it is not included in the body of the Constitution.”” 

So how can a Prime Minister of a country who already understands about the Constitution come up with wrong interpretations of the Constitution in order to form up an argument and in order to validate the same argument that he started for his own purposes.

There was only one purpose of those interpretations and those arguments according to Prime Minister Tuilaepa and that is for the fulfilling of his own aim to correct the Constitution when the Constitution was still perfect on the cover and on the preamble. (The Prime Minister was referring to corrections for Christianity)  

When the truth reveals at the end that the Prime Minister’s opinions regarding the Constitutional Amendment about Christianity were not consistent with the outcome, it grows strong suspicions that there was something else unbelievable that is hidden behind the Prime Minister’s aim and plans. But before all of those situations took places, there was another situation occurred first which was the changing of the title ‘Analysis’ with the new title of ‘Arrangement of Provisions’.

It has been revealed just lately. So the new revelation has given me the clear and the full picture of the hidden truth. The hidden truth is the ‘dictatorship plan’. As a result, we have an un-Christian tax law to tax Church Ministers, forcing mortgages on customary land and a faavae malepe malepelepe o Samoa. That is the product of the political scandal.

I did not make up anything about the political scandal and the ‘dictatorship plan’. Everything is already proved by the Prime Minister’s own words and the outcome of the Prime Minister’s own words. Also, the Constitution itself is the evidence of the political scandal and the ‘dictatorship plan’. 

 

Nanai Malonuu Lealaiauloto Nofoaiga

Samoa Observer

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