Tues 20 January 2026, Apia Samoa. The Speaker of the House, Hon. Auapaʻau Mulipola Aloitafua, today imposed a ban on the Opposition Leader, Hon Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, from wearing sunglasses during Parliamentary proceedings.
It was the first day for Parliament to convene for 2026, and the Speaker opened his remarks by expressing his disappointment in Tuilaepa.
He expressed his deep disappointment in public remarks made by Tuilaepa against him, and then banned Tuilaepa from wearing his sunglasses in Parliament without a proven medical reason to do so.
The Speaker said Tuilaepa had defamed him as a person, and disrespected the Speaker of the House as well as his constituency.
The Speaker claimed Tuilaepa said he was incompetent and did not understand the role, or how to carry out the responsibilities of a Speaker.
“E fou le Fofoga Fetalai, e vaivai, e fou si tama, e le malamalama.”
“O ona uiga e valea le Fofoga Fetalai, Tulou a Samoa.”
“That means the Speaker is stupid, Tulou a Samoa.”
The Speaker said the accusations were highly offensive and defaming to him.
“E leo ni upu e tali gofie ona ua tau maualalo ai lo’u tamaliiaga.”
The Speaker said the offensive words of Tuilaepa were hard for him to swallow, especially because of the impact on his family, village and constituency.
“Ua tauvalea, faamataina ai a’u aemaise lou aiga ma le itumalo ma le lalolagi atoa.
“Ua au lau ta i lou tagata, e le afaina, peitai ou te ava ona o le Itumalo ma le Atunuu.”
The Speaker then told Tuilaepa that he did not recall him wearing sunglasses on his social media programmes, therefore he must not need them.
“O loo ou maitauina lou lē faaaogaina o lou mata tioata (sun glasses). O lona uiga o loo atoatoa lelei lau silasila ma le malosi o ou fofoga..”
The former Prime Minister was then told he was no longer allowed to wear sunglasses in Parliament, unless he had a medical certificate.
There is no specific Standing Order in Samoa’s Parliament that explicitly bans the wearing of sunglasses.
However, the Speaker is responsible for upholding the high standard of decorum within Parliament including Samoa’s strict, traditional, and formal dress codes and professional attire.
While not explicitly in the Standing Orders, wearing sunglasses in the legislative chamber would likely be frowned upon as a violation of these high standards, unless it is for medical reasons.
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