The Attorney General and the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly have each been suspended from office for two weeks, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said in response to questions from the Samoa Observer.

The suspensions of the Attorney General, Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annadale and the Clerk, Tiatia Graeme Tualaulelei will be effective for two weeks; suspension notices were served to both parties on Friday.

Fiame confirmed Savalenoa’s suspension in a brief response to a Samoa Observer query. 

But in a later statement on Saturday evening, she announced Tiatia’s suspension and provided more background about the reasons behind the suspensions.

She implied that the Attorney General’s suspension could be the first step towards further action being taken against her, which would lead to her being sacked from the role entirely.

“I have formed a preliminary view that I do not have trust or confidence in her ability to discharge the functions of that Constitutional office,” Fiame said. 

“Accordingly I have set out my reasons for that view in a letter informing her of her suspension, and have offered her the opportunity to respond and offer any submission or explanation by Monday 30th August 2021. 

“Once a response is received, I will have regard to the material provided by the Attorney General, before making a final decision on her continued tenure [in the] role.”

Earlier this month the Prime Minister gave the Attorney General several hours to account for her apparent inaction as the nation’s judiciary comes under mounting attack, a letter obtained by the Samoa Observer said.

The Prime Minister outlined her concerns in a letter to Savalenoa in reference to her apparent inaction on “unprecedented public and media attacks by the Leader of the Opposition”.

“As you will no doubt be aware, it is the fundamental duty of any Attorney-General to uphold and defend the independence of the judiciary and hold its members safe against any attack of this kind, or any kind,” Fiame wrote at the time. 

Fiame said that she was advised of the Legislative Clerk’s suspension by the Speaker of the House that Tiatia was also suspended on Friday for weeks. 

“[I have] been advised that the Speaker has formed a preliminary view that he has no trust or confidence that the Clerk can undertake his functions in supporting and administering the country’s Parliament or the duties required of him under Standing Orders, and has also provided reasons for this view.

“The Speaker has also offered the Clerk the opportunity to respond to those reasons by Monday 30 August before coming to a final view.”

The Leader of Opposition, Tuilaepa, said he first heard of the Attorney General's suspension notice on Friday, 

“I just heard yesterday that the Attorney General has been suspended, and I’m not surprised as she was one of those on top of their list of “heads that will roll” according to party founder La’auli,” said Tuilaepa.

Leader of the opposition Human Rights Protection Party, Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, said the Attorney General’s suspension was the first step towards a clearing out of the public service.

“I just heard yesterday that the Attorney General has been suspended, and I’m not surprised as she was one of those on top of their list of “heads that will roll,” Tuilaepa said, attributing the drive to clear out the public service to La'auli Leuatea Schmidt. 

La'auli is the chairman of the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party which triumphed in the April elections. He has since been appointed the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Fiame said that loyalty was highly prized among public servants particularly during athe formation of a new Government. 

“To be able to properly transition into Government, I and the Cabinet, as well as the Associate Ministers, are heavily reliant upon the public service to perform its functions and duties in an efficient, professional, effective and apolitical manner, so that we can achieve the goals we have set for our people and the country,” she said.

“I have faith that all who are willing to work diligently according to the agreed Public Service values and Code of Conduct, in order to achieve those goals, will be respected and valued for that commitment by my Government, and especially by the people of Samoa.”

Both Savalenoa and Tiatia were served with contempt of court citations by F.A.S.T. lawyers last month, along with Tuilaepa and the former Speaker of the House, Leaupepe Toleafoa Faafisi.

They were each cited for their role in obstructing a F.A.S.T. party swearing-in event that took place on the lawns of a locked Parliament building on 24 May. 

The cancellation of a planned Parliamentary sitting that day - the last day possible for Parliament to convene under a constitutional provision requiring it to sit within 45 days of a national election being held. Leaupepe ordered that the Parliament be locked despite the Supreme Court a day earlier issuing an order for Parliament to sit. 

During the ceremony Tiatia showed up and had a verbal altercation with Fiame about the Parliament's being locked down in which he said he was only following orders. 

(The ad-hoc ceremony was later declared lawful and was the basis for F.A.S.T.’s installation as the country’s new Government, according to a Court of Appeal decision last month).

Savalenoa was only appointed the nation's principal legal officer on 20 July last year. Tiatia was appointed in mid-April of 2019.

The Samoa Observer contacted the Attorney General for comments, but did not receive a response. Tiatia could not be reached on Saturday evening.