Prime Minister of Samoa

The prime minister of Samoa is the head of government of the Independent State of Samoa, a sovereign country located in the Pacific Ocean.

Colonial Rule
The first prime minister during the colonial period was Albert Barnes Steinberger, who originally represented the American government in the Samoan Islands but was close to German commercial interests. After the indigenous authorities of the islands adopted the Constitution of 1873, Steinberger was appointed Prime Minister by King Malietoa Laupepa in July 1875. He held this post for seven months before the British and American consuls in the country persuaded Laupepa to dismiss him, seeing his role as German interference in the islands. Over the next two decades, there was no Prime Minister in the country, and in 1899 Samoa fell under the colonial rule of the Western powers, being divided as a German colony and an American colony at the end of the Second Samoan Civil War, according to the terms of the Tripartite Convention.

At the beginning of the World War I, German Samoa was occupied by New Zealand in 1914, and was subsequently organized as a trust territory of New Zealand in 1920.

After independence 
The territory gained independence in 1962 as the Independent State of Samoa. The Constitution, adopted in 1960 during the transitional period of autonomy, provides that the executive power is vested in the head of state (O le Ao o le Malo), elected by the Legislative Assembly, and who acts only on the recommendation of the government. The head of state has royal assent powers to sign bills into law and dissolve Parliament. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and his cabinet. The prime minister is appointed by the head of state as a member of the Legislative Assembly who enjoys the confidence of a majority in the Legislative Assembly (Article 32 (2) (a)). The prime minister may be removed from office by the Legislative Assembly (Article 33 (1) (b)). Samoa is thus a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system.

List of prime ministers of Samoa (1875–present)

|- style="text-align:center;"
| colspan=8| Abolished (8 February 1876 – 1 October 1959)

Notes

See also
Samoa
Politics of Samoa
List of colonial governors of Samoa
O le Ao o le Malo
Lists of incumbents

References

External links
World Statesmen – Samoa

Category:Politics of Samoa
Category:Government of Samoa
Samoa, List of Prime Ministers of
 
Prime Minister
Category:1875 establishments in Oceania