The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology C.E.O. is yet to respond to the Opposition Leader's letter which urged her not to ban his party from advertising with radio 2AP.

Head of the Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P.) and Opposition Leader, Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi confirmed during his weekly press conference on Thursday that the Ministry's C.E.O. Lefaoali'i Unutoa Auelua-Fonoti is yet to respond to his letter.

He said he continues to be kept in the dark on why H.R.P.P. notices for their party's followers were rejected without any explanation from the responsible C.E.O. 

"It's a Government-owned radio station paid for by the people of Samoa, for the people of Samoa," said Tuilaepa. "It's a public service and should be open to all the people of Samoa."

Tuilaepa also confirmed that the content of the notices they wished to be aired on the national broadcaster 2AP were "common and simple" notices. 

"The notices we had asked them to air were to notify our members that we would be hosting a meeting on certain times and dates so we don't know why they rejected our notices. Those are the kind of notices any radio station would appreciate because they make money from them.

"But I have not received any response or explanation from the C.E.O. as well as the responsible minister and the Prime Minister who was copied in my letter."

Tuilaepa's letter was dated 24 July 2023 and copied to the Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Toelupe Poumulinuku Onesemo, and the Chairman of the Public Service Commission.

In his letter to the C.E.O. of the Ministry, Tuilaepa said her decision to deny the party’s meeting notice was a misuse of her power and added that there was a precedent case where the court ruled on such abuse of power which stopped political parties from using the 2AP radio. 

“Go find a decision and you will understand it,” he wrote in his letter to the top bureaucrat. 

He continued by telling the C.E.O. that airing public notices is revenue for the Government but her decision to stop it reflected her "arrogance". 

Tuilaepa also referred to Lefaoalii’s previous employment with the Office of the Regulator and reminded her to "stop her ill manners" and do her work properly and with honesty.

Lefaoalii did not respond to questions sent to her by the Samoa Observer in relation to Tuilaepa’s letter. This newspaper also put to her the decision of the court, which was mentioned by Tuilaepa and led to the lifting of restrictions on the use of Government-owned media by political parties.

Lefaoalii did respond to earlier queries from last week where she denied her decision to reject the public notice was either influenced by any political affiliation or any other figure. 

She said it was an "impartial decision" to ensure the State-owned publicly-funded radio station is committed to maintaining its independence. 

Attempts were also made by the Samoa Observer to obtain comments from the Minister of Communication and Information Technology but were unsuccessful. 

The legal action which Tuilaepa made reference to in his correspondence began in 1999 and was initiated by the former Opposition party leader at the time, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi against the Tofilau administration. After it banned him from using the national radio service 2AP, the Televise Samoa and Government newspaper Savali. 

Tui Atua had argued in court that the government ban on him from using Government owned media violated his rights under the Constitution and came out successful. 

In that proceeding, the Supreme Court made orders that “any directive (specific or non-specific, oral or in writing, direct or indirect) by way of ban and/or restriction upon the applicant or any member of his party to Televise Samoa or Radio 2AP or the Savali newspaper is void and of no effect, as it would constitute an infringement of Articles 13 and 15 of the Constitution”. 

Article 13 of the Constitution refers to rights regarding freedom of speech and Article 15 refers to freedom from discriminatory legislation.