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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Samoa,_Western
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Independent State of (Samoa i Sisifo) area
2,830 sq km/1,093 sq mi capital Apia on Upolu
physical comprises islands of Savai'i and
Upolu, with two smaller islands and islets;
mountain ranges on the main islands features
huge lava flows on Savai'i have cut down the
area available for agriculture head of state
King Malietoa Tanumafili II from 1962 head of
government Tofilau Eti Alesana from 1988
government liberal democracy political
parties Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP),
led by Tofilau Eti Alesana; the Va'ai Kolone
Group (VKG); Christian Democratic Party
(CDP), led by Tupuola Taisi Efi. All the
`parties' are personality-based groupings.
exports copra, bananas, cocoa; tourism is
important currency taia (3.88 = 1 Feb 1990)
population (1989) 169,000; annual growth rate
1.1% language English and Samoan (official)
religion Christian literacy 90% (1983) GDP
$65 million (1978); $400 per head of
population chronology 1959 Local government
elected. 1961 Referendum favoured
independence. 1962 Achieved full independence
within the Commonwealth, with Fiame Mata'afa
Mulinu'u as prime minister. 1975 Mata'afa
died and was succeeded by Tupuola Taisi Efi,
the first non-royal prime minister. 1982
Va'ai Kolone became prime minister, but was
replaced the same year by Tupuola Efi. When
the assembly failed to approve his budget,
Tupuola Efi resigned and was replaced by
Tofilau Eti Alesana. 1985 At the end of the
year Tofilau Eti resigned over his budget
proposals and the head of state refused to
call a general election, inviting Va'ai
Kolombe to return to lead the government.
1988 Elections produced a hung parliament,
with first Tupuola Efi as prime minister and
then Tofilau Eti.
2.
Country in the SW Pacific, in Polynesia, NE
of Fiji. government Western Samoa is an
independent state within the Commonwealth.
The 1962 constitution provides for a
parliamentary system of government, with a
constitutional head of state, a
single-chamber legislative assembly, and a
prime minister and cabinet drawn from and
responsible to the assembly. The head of
state is normally elected by the assembly for
a five-year term but the present holder of
the office has been elected for life. The
head of state appoints the prime minister and
cabinet on the basis of assembly support. The
assembly (Fono) has 47 members, including 45
Samoans, who are elected by clan chiefs
(holders of Matai titles) in 41 territorial
constituencies, and two, usually European,
members who are elected from individual
voter's roles. The assembly has a life of
three years. history the first Europeans to
reach the island group of Samoa, 1722, were
Dutch. In the 19th century Germany, the UK,
and the US had conflicting interests in the
islands, sometimes called the Navigators'
Islands, and administered them jointly
1889-99, when they were divided into American
Samoa and Western Samoa. Western Samoa was a
German colony until World War I, and from
1920 was administered by New Zealand, first
as a League of Nations mandate and from 1946
as a United Nations trust territory. Western
Samoa was granted internal self-government
gradually until it achieved full
independence, within the Commonwealth, on 1
Jan 1962. The office of head of state was
held jointly by two traditional rulers, but
on the death of one of them, the other,
Malietoa Tanumafili II, became the sole head
of state for life. The prime minister at the
time of independence was Fiame Mata Afa
Mulinu'u. He lost power 1970 but regained it
1973 until his death 1975. In 1976 the first
prime minister who was not of royal blood was
elected, Tupuola Taisi Efi. In 1979 the
previously unorganized opposition politicians
came together to form the Human Rights
Protection Party (HRPP) and it won the 1982
election, Va'ai Kolone becoming prime
minister. Later that year he was removed
because of alleged voting malpractices and
replaced by Tupuola Efi. Efi resigned a few
months later when his budget was not
approved, and was replaced by the new HRPP
leader, Tofilau Eti Alesana. The HRPP won a
decisive victory in the Feb 1985 general
election, securing 31 Fono seats, and Tofilau
Eti Alesana continued as prime minister. At
the end of the year he resigned because of
opposition to his budget proposals, which
resulted in large scale defections from the
HRPP. The head of state refused to call
another election and Va'ai Kolone returned to
lead a government that comprised independents
as well as members of Tupuola Taisi Efi's
(Tupua Tamasese) newly formed Christian
Democratic Party (CDP). The general election
of Feb 1988 produced a hung parliament with
Tofilau Eti Alesana as the ne premier.