Samoa's new Speaker of Parliament, Papali'i Li'o Ta'eu-Masipau, and his Deputy, Auapa'au Mulipola Aloitafua, were officially welcomed to Parliament on Monday afternoon with the ceremonial handing over of keys to the Parliament offices and vehicles. 

The Office of the Clerk of Legislative Assembly hosted a traditional ava ceremony to welcome the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker for Samoa's XVII Parliament.

Papali'i takes over the role of Speaker from his predecessor, the long-serving parliamentarian and former Speaker, Toleafoa Leaupepe Fa'afisi. 

Toleafoa resigned after close to 30 years in Parliament. A member of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P.) he declared at a party meeting in March that he would not contest the upcoming  election because of a medical requirement he said had prevented him from running, saying a doctor had told him he could not run because he was sick. 

Deputy Speaker Auapa'au takes over the role from former the previous Deputy Speaker and Member of Pariament for Gagaemauga No.2., Nafo'itoa Talaimanu Keti, who lost his seat in April's national election. 

Nafo'itoa entered Parliament in 2016 and lost his seat to a Deacon Elder and member of the Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party, Seuamuli Fasi Toma. 

The new Speaker and Deputy Speaker were appointed by the leader of the F.A.S.T. party and Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa and were sworn in during an ad-hoc ceremony held on 24 May on the lawns of Parliament House, after the building was ordered locked by Toleafoa. 

Monday's special ceremony involved the ceremonial handover of the keys to Parliament to was also handed  to the new Speaker of the House.

He was also provided with keys to the offices and cars to be used by the Speaker and his deputy throughout their terms.

Papali'i, who is the Member-elect for Fa'asaleleaga No.3., is no stranger to the political arena. The 66-year-old is a former Tautua Samoa Party member. 

A lawyer by profession, Papali'i is also a former Assistant Police Commissioner. 

In an interview with the Samoa Observer on Monday morning, Papali'i confirmed that he had already met with the Clerk of Legislative Assembly, Tiatia Graeme Tualaulelei over the weekend. 

Tiatia did not attend a meeting held on Saturday morning at the F.A.S.T. Headquarters at which Ministry chiefs mixed with the official F.A.S.T. Cabinet. (Also missing was the Attorney-General, Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annandale, who told organisers of the event that she would be too busy drafting her letter of resihnsion to attend.)

But Papali'i confirmed hat he personally met with Tiatia on Saturday separate to the mixer between Ministry heads and the new Cabinet. 

"Discussions have been great so far with the Clerk of Legislative Assembly," he said.

"We are trying to settle some things especially with the transitions before we can discuss other things."

When asked to elaborate on the issues under discussion Papali'i said: 

"We are yet to discuss a proper date for parliament to convene as there are other things we are looking into at the moment. 

"So we are yet to finalise a date."

But Papali'i said they are hoping for Parliament to convene sometime this week.