It has been a very long week in terms of Samoan politics and its movers and shakers. The indefinite suspension from parliament of the Opposition Leader, Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi and his party secretary, Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi were the biggest talking points from all the drama in the last couple of days.

Tuilaepa, the leader of the Human Rights Protection Party, warned of impending legal action to question his and Leala’s indefinite suspension from the parliament in a letter to the Samoa Observer on Wednesday.

“The H.R.P.P. leaders will file its action for Court Intervention on these abuses of power by the Speaker and the FAST Government soon,” wrote Samoa’s longest serving prime minister, to conclude his letter.

One fact that is now a given, following these recent political developments, is that Samoa’s oldest political party is now without a leader in the parliament. And a H.R.P.P. without a parliamentary leader does not augur well for an Opposition tasked to keep the Government accountable for the next four-plus years.

Interestingly, in the lead-up to the 2021 General Election in April last year, we flagged the need for the country’s oldest party to consider formulating a succession plan that would enable a smooth transition of power to a new party leader upon the retirement of Tuilaepa from politics. Political party succession planning is considered essential in democracies and Samoa should be no different. 

So what does the party’s constitution say about the position of the parliamentary leader and how long can it be vacant for?

And can individual elected Members who are part of the H.R.P.P. initiate a leadership change from within the party due to the “long” absence of the party leader?

These are questions that H.R.P.P. Members should naturally be asking and having conversations on, following the events in the Legislative Assembly this week, that culminated with the indefinite suspension of the party leader and former prime minister as well as his party secretary.

Leala has vowed to continue his scrutiny of the Government as an Opposition M.P. while under suspension, saying they will not be silenced.

"It was an attempt to shut me up and keep us quiet but we will not be silenced; instead it has given us more courage and ignited the fire in us to fight for what we believe is the right thing to do,” he told the Samoa Observer.

"We will be more vocal and speak up for the good of people and the country. I think for me personally, I was expecting people to speak to us in a very harsh manner, as usual.”

It is great to see the fire continuing to burn within Leala – even outside the confines of the Parliament. And the media would be more than happy to provide their various platforms for the two suspended Members to scrutinise the Government’s every move. 

But there is a big difference between launching a broadside against the Government on its policies from outside the parliament and critiquing from within as a sitting legislator. One of the benefits of parliamentary debates is that all Members are allocated speaking-times, with the Speaker moderating the debate, and the Ministers are in chamber and on hand to respond to questions or issues.

And then there is the issue of legitimacy and its link to Tuilaepa and Leala’s status as suspended Members of Parliament. How effective will their messaging be, in terms of them exercising their roles as Opposition Members, and how will their messages be received in their constituencies and the wider population?

It is anyone’s guess how long the Courts will take if and when the Opposition files its case. But one thing for sure is the constituencies of Lepa and Faleata No. 3 lost their voices in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday this week, and will have no form of representation in the chamber unless the Parliament decides to revisit the matter (or the Courts intervene).

For the H.R.P.P. and its membership the next steps are important – on how it addresses the leadership vacuum that now exist at the parliamentary level – as the portrayal of a ship being rudderless at the start of a new five-year parliamentary term, could have huge implications for the party and its overall success at the next general election.