Dear Editor,

The Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi government's continued hesitation to support the Restoring Citizenship Bill removed by the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 bill that is being considered in New Zealand is confounding and a concern.

It is clearly an issue that is important to Samoans here and in New Zealand.

There are many who have led the charge to correct this injustice that has inflicted decades of pain on generations of Samoans.

How can the Prime Minister feel comfortable turning a blind eye to the tearful and heart-felt testimony of our people?

Are the legal opinions and first-hand accounts of the background that led to that shameful Act of 1982 not enough for her and her Cabinet to step up and defend the rights of our Samoan people?

What more does Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and her Cabinet need?

The FAST Party can no longer hide behind diplomacy.

For heaven's sake, the name of the 1982 bill itself is self-explanatory, the target was (Western) Samoa and the citizenship rights of Samoans!

New Zealand made this our issue when their Prime Minister Robert Muldoon told our Prime Minister Va'ai Kolone that his government would remove Samoan citizenship rights.

Va’ai simply folded under the pressure.

If it was purely an internal New Zealand issue, why bother dragging the Samoan leader to Wellington to tell him what they were about to do?

It’s because they knew what they were doing was wrong and they needed Samoa's "agreement" to make it look legitimate.

Va'ai paid the political price for being complicit in that 1982 fiasco.

The FAST government cannot continue with this Ostrich leadership that has become its trademark.

They cannot continue to hide their heads in the sand, pretend to be invisible and hope that these issues will simply go away.

Leadership is not about parties, flying all over the world and reading meaningless speeches without conviction, cutting ribbons, and collecting lafo’s.

In history, the removal of citizenship has only been seen in the darkest of times.

Spain, Portugal and Hitler’s Germany removed the citizenship of Jews living in their countries many years ago, then later restored citizenships to their descendants.

These are undemocratic precedents that must never be followed.

New Zealand as a democratic nation can still restore its image by removing the injustices done to Samoa and Samoans.

Samoans expect their leaders to fight for causes that affect their lives.

This means listening, getting up, doing real work, and serving your people.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi

Leader of HRPP