The caretaker Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, is a man under siege.

Three months after the nation already delivered their verdict of him at the polling booth, the negative appraisals have not stopped. 

Tuilaepa’s response to criticism is, of course, characteristically blunt, to put it mildly. The political style to which we have all become used to involves discrediting the source of those making claims against him with what often seem like wildly unfounded accusation. 

That has been, for much of his 22 years in power, standard operating procedure.

But in the more than three months since he lost the election and refused to vacate the Prime Minister’s chair, Tuilaepa is embattled as he never has been before. 

It is as if the man to whom we have become accustomed is now operating at hyperspeed as he responds to unprecedented levels of incoming criticism, this time originating from figures outside of politics, such as judges, churches, the international community and, increasingly, everyday Samoans. 

To see him not allow a single of these allegations go unanswered has been a thing to behold in itself. It brings to mind the simple philosophy of the veteran American political campaigner Roger Stone. A man who cut his teeth as a dirty trickster for President Richard Nixon, before he was last year sentenced to jail for doing much the same on the behalf of former President Donald Trump said his political philosophy boiled down to three tenets: "Admit nothing, deny everything, launch counterattack.”

That sounds familiar. 

The only person who Tuilaepa has so far successfully been able to stifle his instinct to criticise was the Archbishop of the Catholic Church, Alapati Lui Mataeliga.

But apart from that, his responses have followed his trusted formula.

Belittling insults of this nature might, if your sensibilities allow for it, sound less disagreeable when thrown across a Parliamentary chamber. 

The same goes for the criticism directed towards the media, a plural noun which really amounts to one publication which you now hold in your hands. But we don’t mind in the least. Quite the opposite. Apart from being fat, uneducated and mentally unwell, having a thick skin and a broad back are among the main selection criteria for working in this newsroom. 

We also seem to have noticed a pattern. Tuilaepa’s denials of our reporting, beginning, as they do, with unconvincing scenarios about encountering them - “someone wrote to me” about an article - and ending with denunciations, misdirections and exclamation marks are fast becoming, behind eye witness testimony, one the most reliable indicators of truth.

(Compare Tuilaepa’s angry denunciation on Wednesday’s of our reports two weeks ago that the party of Government was seeking to move against the Chief Justice through the Judicial Service Commission with a a state-owned radio address made on Thursday, in which he cheerfully admitted writing critically of the C.J. to the commission and seeking to have him removed from an upcoming trial). 

But it is one thing to casually hurl invective at those of us who have chosen to make our living by keeping people such as Tuilaepa to account and quite another to refer to the citizens of Samoa this way.

In fact, to hear a man who - even if only by sheer force of will - remains the caretaker Prime Minister of this nation, attack ordinary people for expressing their opinions is quite a chilling thing indeed. 

So far five constituencies have called on Tuilaepa to step down and expressed their solidarity with the cornerstone of our democracy, the judicial branch. 

In a democratic country these are encouraging signs of vibrant and sophisticated democratic debate taking place at the village level about the philosophy of Government. 

But critical though they have been, all have been couched in humble and respectful language befitting of making a plea to the nation's Prime Minister. 

The official statement from Gagaemauga No. 2 on Thursday provides a representative example of the manner in which they have broached the subject with delicacy and deference. 

"Tuilaepa, you have been at the helm for forty years and there is no need to question whether you have done something good for this country," Fa'amoetauloa Evile, the constituency's spokesperson said.

"With all due respect, we beg of you Tuilaepa. We have decided to speak up just to remind you about God's will and choices,” 

"We humbly ask you and your caretaker Cabinet Ministers, especially those who had been defeated in April's election, to step aside...step down. 

"Please, give the chance to those elected members who were elected by the different constituencies in the country to step up and carry out their duties.

"This is the voice from Matautu; speaking with the hope that you would accept our humble request."

These must surely rank as among the most respectful contributions to Samoan political debate in several decades

But it is important to note that Fa'amoetauloa was not speaking as an individual; he had not simply gauged the vibe of people around his village before choosing to speak out on behalf of an entire constituency. 

He was an appointed spokesman on these matters and he was so because the village and its leaders had just met and unanimously decided upon their position on the matter of the nation’s political stalemate.

So apart from just speaking to ordinary Samoans, Tuilaepa was responding to entire communities when, on Thursday, he delivered an offensively dismissive response.

"I feel sorry for those elders,” he said. 

"But that is the view of only a few of them and not the entire constituencies they represent.” 

That is, of course, despite the fact that the criticism they had made arose from a formal village meeting at which the matter was decided upon unanimously. Tuilaepa continued by making a statement that appeared to be loaded with disdain for the worthiness of those who chose to speak out. 

“Those are the ones who gather and drink ava, then have been persuaded to take videos and make those statements,” he said.

"It seems like they do not want to understand things and have blamed me and the caretaker Government for what's happening.

"I've received so many letters from people asking me to move out. People are getting disrespectful.”

No, that is called democracy, caretaker Prime Minister. It is the voice of the people, without validation from whom both you and your office are irrelevant. They deserve to be treated with respect and so too does the expression of their views. Had you done so to begin with it’s unlikely we would ever have found ourselves in this predicament.