Va'ai Kolone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Va'ai Kolone (11 November 1911 - 20 April 2001) was a Samoan politician, prime minister, and founder of the Human Rights Protection Party. He served as Prime Minister of Samoa twice, first between 13 April and 18 September 1982, and then from 30 December 1985 until 8 April 1988.

Kolone was first elected to the Fono in 1967. In 1979 together with Tofilau Eti Alesana he founded the Human Rights Protection Party to oppose the government of Tupuola Efi. The HRPP won 24 seats in the 1982 election, and Kolone was appointed Prime Minister. However, an election petition stripped him of his seat shortly afterwards due to bribery and he was forced to resign[1]. Tupuola Efi was appointed Prime Minister and served until Kolone regained his seat in the subsequent by-election. However in the meantime Tofilau Eti Alesana had been elected leader of the HRPP and served as Prime Minister for the rest of the parliamentary term.

Kolone resigned from the HRPP after failing to regain the party leadership after the 1985 election[2]. However in late 1985 11 HRPP MPs defected to form a coalition government with the then-opposition Christian Democratic Party. Kolone was elected Prime Minister on 30 December, with Efi as his deputy. The coalition was later formalised as the Samoan National Development Party[3]. He subsequently led the SNDP in the 1991 election, gaining 14 seats.

[edit] References

  1. ^ More Than 20 Years of Political Stability in Samoa under the Human Rights Protection Party, Asofou So’o, Globalisation and Governance in the Pacific Islands
  2. ^ Ibid.
  3. ^ Stephanie Lawson, Tradition Versus Democracy in the South Pacific: Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa, p. 148

[edit] External Links

 This article about a Oceanian politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
 This biography of a Samoan is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Languages