Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has been criticized by some members of the public following an interview with 60 minutes last Sunday.
The Prime Minister was questioned about security and prison services in Samoa in light of the case where an Australian tourist was raped by a prison escapee last year.
Social media has been flooded with comments of the PM being unprofessional in his responses.
PM Tuilaepa says he agreed to the interview with 60 minutes as part of his duties, as a leader.
“A leader who does not face problems head on, is no leader at all. It’s easy to just ignore and not say anything, but you can’t just take the good and ignore the bad,” he said in a media conference.
“This government is not afraid of the bad, because in it are the lessons of the future, and we can only do better from here,” he added.
“Maybe it was a little disappointing because we talked for more than half an hour and in the end they decided to use only two minutes of our conversation in their entire story,” he said.
“I agreed to the interview because it’s important for government to share its perspective and provide updates on what we are doing to improve our services.”
“All we can do is answer the questions and hope that the reporters are responsible and fair,” he concluded.
There has been a diverse range of opinions from the public.
Some people are blaming the PM for the way Samoa is being promoted, some have turned to convicted criminal Lauititi Tualima attacking him for his actions, and others towards the 60 minutes programme and the headlines earmarking Samoa as a Paradise lost.
Photo: Savali News