In October 1997 Samoa’s then-opposition leader, Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi announced that he was taking the government to court in a bid to lift a ban on him having access to the national radio 2AP.

Tuiatua, at that time, was of the view that the ban was a breach of the right to freedom of expression which is guaranteed under Samoa’s Constitution. Tofilau Eti Alesana, who was the prime minister at that time, banned Tuiatua from using 2AP as he claimed the opposition leader was using it to “disturb the peace”. Current Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P.) and Opposition Leader, Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi was the deputy prime minister to Tofilau at that time, and he claimed that Tuiatua also prevented the opposition from using the government radio service. Vowing at that time to engage a New Zealand lawyer to initiate legal proceedings in Samoa, Tuiatua said he had been banned from using 2AP for three years.

Excerpts of the 2AP ban by the Tofilau government in 1997 are saved in the archives of the Canada-headquartered IFEX (formerly International Freedom of Expression Exchange), which to this day remains a dark stain in Samoa’s journey as a democratic nation. 

Fast forward 26 years later and sadly it appears nothing has changed – in terms of how Samoa’s politicians have viewed 2AP – and who can and cannot access this publicly-funded radio service. Even the fact that the national radio service is paid for by Samoan taxpayers, and as a national broadcaster is a “public service” to the citizens of this country, hasn't dawned on the leaders of the current Government.

We say this following the revelation by the Samoa Observer in yesterday’s edition of the decision of the C.E.O. of the Ministry of Communications Information and Technology, Lefaoalii Unutoa Auelua-Fonoti to reject public notices from the HRPP.

Responding to questions from this newspaper, Lefaoalii denied that her decision to reject the Opposition party’s public notices was “neither influenced by any political affiliation nor any other figure as you had presumed”.

“I would like to reiterate that 2AP’s content will always be independent and ensure that editorial decisions are not improperly influenced by political, sectional, commercial or personal interests,” she said. “Our mandate also is to provide the services of the Government of Samoa by disseminating information of national events, activities, emergency preparedness and response and policies for the people of Samoa. 

“It was an impartial decision to ensure that we are committed to maintaining our independence.”

However, the decision by the C.E.O. has been criticised by the H.R.P.P. party secretary, Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi who accused the head of politicising the radio station’s services and not being impartial.

The public notices that Lefaoalii rejected are on the Opposition party’s candidates contesting the three upcoming by-elections, said Leala.

We find it unacceptable that the C.E.O. of the Ministry, which has responsibility for the national radio service, sees fit to deny the public critical information on the Opposition party’s candidates. Her unilateral decisions that will impact on the voters in the three constituencies from making informed choices about the best candidate to vote for are undemocratic and cannot go unchallenged. 

Let’s analyse her response to the questions sent by this newspaper: “I would like to reiterate that 2AP’s content will always be independent and ensure that editorial decisions are not improperly influenced by political, sectional, commercial or personal interests.”

What did she mean by “editorial decisions are not improperly influenced by political, sectional, commercial or personal interests”? 

So if the ruling Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party were to send her Ministry public notices for 2AP on their candidates for the by-elections will she apply the same yardstick? Or will she go down the path that previous administrations have gone down and ban access to Opposition-aligned political parties?

In fact, if Lefaoalii was proactive as a Government C.E.O. and had wanted to ensure that her Ministry – as the custodian of the national broadcaster – was transparent and accountable in how they processed political messages connected to the by-elections for potential broadcast, they should have done the following immediately after the Supreme Court declared the three seats vacant last week.

• Set up an in-house bipartisan committee that will screen all political messaging including candidate campaign messaging for the by-elections. 

• Publish the guidelines for political campaign messaging based on the 2AP editorial policies that are considered suitable for public consumption including details of the bipartisan committee that will also handle any complaints. 

In cognisance, we think it is dangerous that a Ministry C.E.O. can make unilateral decisions on critical information, which voters will need for the three upcoming by-elections and potentially deny them access through the public broadcaster. It is wrong and undemocratic despite her attempts to justify her decisions.

We hope that the Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Toelupe Poumulinuku Onesemo would intervene and review the decision of the C.E.O. through a bipartisan process. If he cannot do it then it is time for the Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa to get involved and pull Lefaoalii into line. 

Failure to do so will only result in the F.A.S.T. administration being added to the IFEX blacklist and cast in the same light as the Tofilau government. And that in itself wouldn't look good for the current Government's own track record, as it espouses itself as the guardian of Samoan citizens' rights, which includes giving them access to all candidate information that will enable them to make informed voter choices come by-election day.