The suspended Lepa M.P. and Opposition Leader has criticised a recommendation by SUNGO for Samoa’s 10 per cent women M.P. parliamentary quota provision to be repealed.

Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi told a media press conference on Wednesday that the submission by the Samoa Umbrella for Non-Governmental Organisations (SUNGO) for the 10 per cent women parliamentary quota to be abolished was unacceptable and he is appalled at such a recommendation.

The civil society support organisation recently published a statement on a submission they made to a Commission of Inquiry which is currently doing a review of the 2019 Electoral Act following last year’s general election.

The submission from SUNGO was made up of a 10 point recommendation based on the outcome of a members meeting on 24 June this year.

"One of the main topics we discussed in our submission today was the empowering of women to consider running as candidates for future elections," the statement by SUNGO reads.

"This might be the solution to this 10 per cent saga that we have noticed in the last election."

The SUNGO submission which was promulgated by most of its members called for a review of the methods used to increase the participation and involvement of women in parliament and encourage more women to stand for office during general elections. 

The submission put forward the suggestion for the removal of the 10 per cent quota as a "pathway" for women in Samoa to enter parliament. 

Furthermore, the civil society support organisation had asked that things return to how they used to be when there are equal opportunities for men and women to contest the seats in their respective constituencies. 

But Tuilaepa disagreed and told the media conference on Wednesday that he was shocked at the move and questioned the membership of the civil society organisation.

"When I heard about this announcement, I was very shocked. I want to understand why they came up with such a decision and whether they have any intelligent women in there as members to make good decisions for the organisation,” he said. 

"They must have intelligent women in there who are knowledgeable and understand the issues in Samoa, instead of having people with political affiliations because they will tarnish the reputation of civil society in the country."

The veteran politician said he is of the view that SUNGO and its members "do not understand" the rationale behind the quota system that his former Administration introduced.

"I wrote that formula so that we will always have women representation in parliament," Tuilaepa said. 

"I noticed that after two elections including the one in 2011 that the number of women coming through after elections kept dropping even with all the campaigns to increase the participation of women. 

“So the formula was put in place to make sure that we will not have less than 10 per cent of women in parliament.

"But from the beginning until now, women are free to enter parliament, the same way men can enter. 

“The formula exists to ensure that if there comes a time where we will not have at least 10 per cent of women in parliament, we will use this formula to make sure that there will be a strong voice of women in parliament. 

"It's simple, if more women make it through after an election, there will be no need to apply or use the quota."

Directing his attention to the leadership of SUNGO and its members, Tuilaepa said the women behind its submission to the Commission of Inquiry should “go and look after their kids” as there are “smart women” who can fill in their roles. 

"The call from this group only reflects how narrow-minded the women who are involved in the group are. 

“They should just go and look after their kids instead of putting their noses into things they know nothing about.

"There are smart women out there who should be working in civil society groups in Samoa.

“The intelligent women and those who are knowledgeable should be the ones looking after these groups instead of having narrow-minded people make decisions on things they have knowledge of. 

"That's my challenge for all the intelligent women in Samoa.

"I saw that they also asked for the Samoan diaspora to vote during elections. You see, Samoans overseas are allowed to vote. 

“If they want to vote, they should come to Samoa to cast their votes, so I don't know why they make it sound like it's a new thing and that the people overseas are not allowed to vote. “That's why I say that they don't know what they're talking about."

Attempts by the Samoa Observer to get comments from the SUNGO Chief Executive Officer Fuimaono Vaitolo Ofoia were unsuccessful.