Samoa’s opposition leader says he is not convinced that the prime minister, La’aulialemalietoa (La’auli) Leuatea Schmidt is not privately sympathetic to nazi ideals.
However, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, Samoa’s longtime prime minister and the current opposition leader, has told RNZ Pacific that it raises serious doubts over the prime minister’s position.
Tuilaepa has also called on the ruling FAST Party MPs to condemn their leader, La’auli, over his actions at the time he was the deputy speaker of Samoa’s parliament.
Tuilaepa said that as prime minister in 2007, he did not know of the incident, but if he did he would have La’auli sacked from the role.
“As we have all heard, it was said in a private function. Now that is even worse to me, to apologise for the words said, and to also inform that it was only a private function.
“It means he did not want anybody to know about his real intention, his real personal affiliation to Hitler and his ideals.”
In his statement on the incident last week, La’auli has said he rejects Nazism and other political extremism, adding that he now considers the matter closed.
But Tuilaepa said the issue would not simply go away.
“It is still being talked about, and there are also a lot of letters to the editors raising the issue in our newspapers.
“So it’s not going to go away, as as the prime minister would hope. It will never go away.”
According to the former prime minister, it speaks volumes that the party ranks in FAST have remained virtually silent on the matter.
“It raises the question: where is his party member? Where is his party standing? Why hasn’t any of the ministers or the members raised the issue with their leader? These are questions that have yet to be answered.”
