The leader of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, has denied any internal division within the party, despite two members breaking ranks during a recent vote on the national budget.

The country is now set for an early election after the Legislative Assembly voted down the 2025–2026 national budget on Tuesday morning.

The vote resulted in 16 in favour and 34 against, marking the first time in 40 years that a government budget has failed to secure a majority in Parliament. As a result, the cabinet is expected to assume a caretaker role, and under the constitution, a general election must be held within 90 days.

HRPP member Alaiasa Sepulona abstained from the vote, while Maulolo Tavita Amosa voted in favour of the budget. However, Tuilaepa maintains that these actions do not signal disunity within the party.

“There is no friction,” Opposition Leader Tuilaepa said. “We have never defected, we have never defected at all, but the exception of one, who has never been here although he was here in person, but his mind was never in the party,” he added.

Tuilaepa did not mention the name of the defected member. 

Commenting further on the two members who did not align with the party's stance in parliament, he said, “We are going to talk about that; they were thinking more of their self-interests, which is not a party issue.” 

He also suggested that such behaviour is not uncommon: “We do have people like that.”

He added that he is confident the country will reach at least 80 per cent of registrations by the end of June. When asked what gives him that confidence, he replied, "It’s the norm, our people leave everything to the last minute. It’s the usual 'disease' here."

He then turned the question around to Samoa Observer, saying, "If you had registered today, you wouldn’t be asking that question."

He noted that during his evening drives, he often sees people lining up outside the Office of the Electoral Commission, which reinforces his belief that the numbers will increase significantly as the deadline approaches.