Samoa
Legislative Assembly
About parliament
Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.
Parliament name
Fono (Legislative Assembly)
Chamber name
Fono (Legislative Assembly)
Parliamentary term (years)
5
IPU membership
Affiliation periods
from 2000
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
IPU Geopolitical Groups: African Group, Arab Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eurasia Group, Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), Twelve Plus Group.
Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker
Official title
The Speaker may for example be known as the Presiding Officer, President, Chairman/Chairperson, etc.
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
Speaker
Papali’i Li’o Oloipola Taeu
Masipau
(Male)
Year of birth
1953
Term
24.05.2021
Additional information
Sworn in on 24 May 2021.
Secretary General
Official title
This post is most commonly called Secretary General or Clerk. It may also be called Secretary, Head/Chief of the Secretariat, Director General, etc.
Clerk
Secretary General
Satama Leatisa Uitime
Tala
(Male)
Notes
Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 20 Oct. 2021.
Members
Statutory number of members
Statutory number of members, as defined in the constitution or other fundamental law.
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Compare data of this field.
Directly elected members
Directly elected by citizens.
51
Note on the statutory number of members
The 2013 Act requires that women members of the Legislative Assembly shall consist of a minimum of 10% of the Legislative Assembly (presently, five).
See historical data for this field.
Current number of members
Number of members who currently hold seats in parliament. May be lower or higher than the statutory number of members.
Men
The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
Women
The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
Percentage of women
Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
Statutory number of members per country
As defined in the constitution or other fundamental laws. Combines the number of parliamentarians in both chambers in bicameral parliaments.
Population (in thousands)
Click for historical data
See historical data for this field.
Age
Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.
Reserved seats and quotas
There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Reserved seats are a means to ensure the parliamentary representation of certain groups in society.
Number of reserved seats, by group
Women
5
Electoral quota for women
Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Notes
Women shall constitute a minimum of 10% of the Members of the Legislative Assembly. This provision will apply to the parliament to be elected in 2016. (Source: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas )
Legal source
Legal text that stipulates the quota, such as the Constitution or electoral law.
Constitution Amendment Act No. 17 of 2013 – An Act to amend the Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa to provide for a minimum number of women members of parliament and to exclude officers and employees of the Attorney General from the Public Service; Constitution, article 44 as amended by the Constitution Amendment Act 2013.
Electoral quota for youth
Quotas to promote the representation of youth in parliament.
Links to additional information
Parliamentary website
Link(s) to parliamentary web site in English, French and/or local languages.
List of members
Link(s) to list of members on the parliamentary web site.
Constitution
Official links to the Constitution in English, French and/or original language is provided. Links to unofficial translations where no other source is available.