Human Rights Protection Party


The Human Rights Protection Party is a Samoan political party. It has dominated Samoan party politics since 1982.
Va'ai Kolone and Tofilau Eti Alesana co-founded the party in May 1979 in opposition to the government of Tupuola Efi. It has governed the country since first winning power in 1982, except for a brief period in 1986 and 1987 when internal differences forced it into coalition.
The two founders of the early party, Kolone and Alesana, both became Prime Ministers of Samoa.
Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi has led the party since 1998.
In the legislative elections of 4 March 2001, the party won 45.1% of popular votes and 23 out of 49 seats. During the elections on 2 April 2006, it won 35 of the 49 seats.
In the 2011 election held on March 4, the party won 36 out of 49 seats, thus retaining the majority. According to the U.S. State Department in their 2010 human rights report published on April 8, 2011, the Human Rights Protection Party remains the only officially recognized party in the Legislative Assembly of Samoa.
The Human Rights Protection Party retained power by winning the 2016 general election.

Principles and policies

In June 2017, the Samoan Parliament passed a bill to increase support for Christianity in the country's constitution, including a reference to the Trinity. Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution states that “Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. According to The Diplomat, "What Samoa has done is shift references to Christianity into the body of the constitution, giving the text far more potential to be used in legal processes." The preamble to the constitution already described the country as "an independent State based on Christian principles and Samoan custom and traditions."

Electoral history

Legislative Assembly elections