Vaʻai Papu Vailupe
Samoan politician (1944–2022)
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Vaʻai Papu Vailupe (25 March 1944 – 17 January 2022),[1] also known as Mafasolia Papu Vailupe,[2] was a Samoan politician and accountant who served as a Cabinet Minister. He was the leader of the Tautua Samoa Party (TSP) from 2010 to 2011.[3] His father was former Prime Minister Vaʻai Kolone, who co-founded the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP).[4] His younger brother Asiata Saleʻimoa Vaʻai was leader of the Samoan Democratic United Party.[5]
Vaʻai Papu Vailupe | |
|---|---|
| Leader of the Tautua Samoa Party | |
| In office 22 December 2010 – 19 May 2011 | |
| Deputy | Palusalue Faʻapo II |
| Preceded by | Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi[a] |
| Succeeded by | Palusalue Faʻapo II |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| In office 1998 – 20 March 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi |
| Succeeded by | Tuisugaletaua Sofara Aveau |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 18 May 1996 – 3 June 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | Tofilau Eti Alesana |
| Preceded by | Fuimaono Lotomau |
| Succeeded by | Molioo Teofilo Vaeluaga |
| Member of the Samoan Parliament | |
| In office 31 March 2006 – 2 May 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Masoe Filisi |
| Succeeded by | Tufuga Gafoleata Faitua |
| Constituency | Vaisigano No. 1 |
| In office 5 April 1991 – 2 March 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Aʻeau Peniamina |
| Succeeded by | Aʻeau Peniamina |
| Constituency | Falealupo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 March 1944 |
| Died | 17 January 2022 (aged 77) New Zealand |
| Party | Tautua Samoa Party (from 2008) |
Other political affiliations | Human Rights Protection Party (until 2006) |
Political career
Vaʻai was first elected to the Samoan Legislative Assembly at the 1991 election.[2] In 1996 he served as Parliamentary Undersecretary for Works, EPC, and the Water Authority.[2] After being re-elected in 1996, he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Justice.[6] Between 1998 and 2001, he served as Minister of Agriculture.[2] He lost his seat in the 2001 election.[7]
He ran as an independent in his father's old seat of Vaisigano No. 1 in the 2006 election. Shortly before the election he was shot in the neck in a politically-motivated shooting.[8] His political rival A'eau Peniamina later denied responsibility for the shooting.[9] Following the election he asked to join the Human Rights Protection Party,[10] but was unsuccessful. In April 2008 he agreed with other independent MPs to form a new political party.[11]
In December 2008 he became a founding member of the Tautua Samoa Party.[12] As a result, in May 2009 he was one of nine Tautua MPs declared to have resigned their seats under an anti-party hopping law.[13] He was subsequently reinstated after the Supreme Court of Samoa overturned the law and declared the formation of new parties legal.[14]
In January 2010 new anti-party-hopping laws came into force, barring MPs from declaring their support for political parties or organizations with political aims other than the party they were elected for.[15] In March 2010, he joined Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi and Palusalue Fa’apo II in formally declaring his membership of the party and so was deemed to have resigned his seat.[16] However, the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) was unable to find a candidate for the resulting by-election, and on 2 May 2010 he was declared elected unopposed,[17] becoming the first non-HRPP MP to win a by-election.[18] In December 2010 he was appointed leader of the Tautua party.[3]
Vailupe was re-elected in the 2011 election, but the result was overturned by an electoral petition, which disqualified him for bribery and treating.[19] He was subsequently charged with thirteen counts of bribery.[20] In May 2012 he was convicted on two counts of bribery and one of treating,[21] and fined US$2500.[22]
Later life and death
In the wake of the 2021 Samoan constitutional crisis Vaʻai denounced the HRPP and its campaign against Samoa's judiciary.[23]
Vaʻai died in New Zealand on 17 January 2022.[24][25] He was buried in Vaisala, Savaiʻi.[1]
Notes
- As interim chair