Fonotoe has been a Member of Parliament for the past 16 years.
He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa after a by-election in 2005 and was subsequently re-elected at the 2006 general election.
The voting by secret ballot was carried out during a HRPP caucus meeting last week.
Fonotoe was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Labour from 2011 – 2016, but when he returned to Parliament in 2016, he was not reappointed as a Cabinet Minister.
In the recent general election, Fonotoe had 341 votes ahead of Toomata Norah Leota of Faatuatua i Le Atua Samoa ua Tasi FAST party, for the electoral constituency of Anoama’a 2.