Two senior Land and Titles Court judges have joined the growing list of public officials who have made known their candidacy to run for the 2026 General Election. Is it right for them to stay on the bench after making the declaration?

According to the law, they have not done anything wrong, however, such a declaration renders their neutrality null and void. As esteemed members of the judiciary, neutrality should be their top attribute. Can we trust the judges to stay neutral after declaring their intention of securing a political role? Maybe they will stay true to the bench, and then again, will their political affiliation influence them? The honourable and morally correct thing to do now is to step down.

LTC Assistant Presidents, Asiata Tuasivi Setu and Faumuina Opapo Soana’I are now part of the electoral rat race. Earlier this month, Asiata, who also holds the title Moananu declared his candidacy to contest for the Satupaitea seat under the Fa’atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party.

Faumuina, on the other hand, has made known to his villagers of Lepea his intention to run for office but has not publicly declared his party of allegiance. The Ministry of Justice Courts and Administration (MJCA) Chief Executive Officer, Papalii John Taimalelagi, confirmed the judges are still employed and have made their intention to run known to the office. While they are still employed with the judiciary, there are no existing policies in the Ministry on when judges have to resign from office to run for parliament.

Perhaps one of the most experienced horses in the race is right to call out the public servants or those paid by the public to step down if they have declared their candidacy now. The Leader of Opposition, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, made the point that civil servants are paid by taxpayers, have access to government transport and using state assets for an election campaign poses unfair competition to other candidates who contributed to the development of the country. Tuilaepa said this questions the credibility of public servants when elected into office and shows their ignorance of the law and being unjust leaders.

It is a democratic and constitutional right for a person to contest in an election, a little different in Samoa on who can contest but it is a right. However, there is always a danger when public servants declare their intent to run and even choose the party they wish to stand for. This takes away the notion of neutrality from a public servant, which is a key requirement when serving the people of this land.

The Electoral Act states that once the nomination of a candidate who is a public servant or a government officer is accepted, he or she needs to resign immediately. The Office of the Electoral Commissioner has not made the call for nominations. It feels that by prematurely declaring candidacies, a year before general elections, there could be an abuse of public resources.

The Samoa Public Service Code of Conduct states, “The employees should act apolitically and serve the Government with impartiality, regardless of which party is in power and which party they personally support.”

Public servants serve the government of the day and successive governments, regardless of their political composition. Will public servants who declare their candidacy be able to do this?

This means public servants must always act in a way that maintains the confidence of the current government and ensures the same relationship can be established with future governments. What if, after declaring your intent, your views do not align with the government’s?

It is never acceptable for a public servant acting in an official capacity to express their personal political views in a way that raises questions about their ability to perform their role in a politically neutral way. Expressing such views impacts the confidence of the public in the political neutrality of the public service. This also applies to those working for state-owned enterprises.

Some who have declared their intention to contest have already started visiting constituencies they intend to represent. The ‘service’ has already started. Some have started spending money as part of that service and the visits. It is hard to say that a public servant intending to contest may not use government resources to render this service.

Let us wait and see if any of the public servants who have declared their political aspirations do the morally correct thing and step down.

Have blessed weekend Samoa.