Samoa - Head of Government

The Hon Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Neioti Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi is serving his fourth term in office as Prime Minister of Samoa after his victory in the March 2011 general election. He was earlier elected into office in the March 2006 general election. Mr Malielegaoi first became Prime Minister from November 1998 to March 2001 when his predecessor, Tofilau Eti Alesana, stepped down.

Mr Malielegaoi is concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1991 to 1998, and also held the concurrent ministerial portfolios of Finance, Tourism, as well as Trade, Commerce and Industry, which he oversaw from 1988 to 1990.

Mr Malielegaoi has held other key appointments, including Chairperson of the Pacific Branch of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) from 1988 to 2000, and Co-President of the ACP–European Union Council of Ministers in 1990 and 1992.

Mr Malielegaoi has held ministerial portfolios in Finance, Economic Affairs, Transport and Civil Aviation from 1982 to 1985. He became a Member of Parliament in May 1981.

Before embarking on a political career, Mr Malielegaoi was Deputy Financial Secretary in the Treasury from 1973 to 1981. During this period, he served in the ACP Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium, as an expert on intra-ACP trade, transport and communications, from 1978 to 1980. Before joining the civil service, Mr Malielegaoi was a partner in an accounting firm in Samoa.

He has Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Commerce from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is also a certified public accountant.

Mr Malielegaoi was born on 14 April 1945 in Lepa, Samoa.