Samoa MP

He was also discharged without conviction. The sentence was handed down by District Court Judge Alalatoa Rosella Papalii.

Toeolesulusulu pleaded guilty to three related traffic offences through his lawyer Muriel Lui in July.

Toeolesulusulu was named the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and Minister of Tourism during the FAST party May 24 swearing-in ceremony.

However immediately after the charges was filed, he stepped down as a Cabinet Minister.

The Samoa Observer reports the two parties had already advertised their intentions to withdraw the election petitions with Tuisa agreeing to resign from office to trigger a by-election.

But when the matter was called on Monday to formalise the withdrawal of the petitions, the court denied the application and set a hearing date for the case.

It will now be heard on July 27th.

Tuisa, who is a lawyer by profession, is accused of six counts of bribery and two counts of influencing voters during polling day.

   Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi's comments came after the government decided to halt all international flights because of the Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand, which had impacted Auckland's Pacific Community.

The prime minister said there was plenty of food in Samoa and no one was running out of supplies.

He claimed families had been telling untruths because they wanted money from overseas.

Tuila'epa said there was a lot of quality tinned fish available which he said was a stable food for many Samoans, including himself.

In a media conference, La'auli said he received a letter from the speaker informing him that his verbal resignation in Parliament last Tuesday is final.

But the MP told reporters he will wait and see if a by-election will be called.

He said he is willing to run to prove his constituency is behind him with their full support.

Meanwhile the MP said he is now accepting the call from his Gagaifomauga number 3 constituency to establish a new political party.

Faumuina Wayne Fong had been critical of Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi's constitutional amendments that affect the judiciary and customary land.

Tuilaepa confirmed that Faumuina was made to quit at a caucus meeting last Friday.

The prime minister told reporters the Faleata urban seat MP was sacked because of his views against government policies.

Tuila'epa said the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) did not need that kind of MP.

Last month the Gagaifomauga 3 MP accepted a decision from Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi to leave the Human Rights Protection Part after a long-running dispute.

According to the Prime Minister, Laauli had breached party policy by not supporting a constitutional amendment for a new division of constituencies to be put in place for next year's general election.

More recently Laauli had been found guilty of misleading the House by a Parliamentary Committee over allegations regarding the sourcing of a generator for the country's new prison.

During a parliamentary debate, Falealili East's MP Fuimaono Te'o Samuelu said the judges should be criminally charged if they were "dishonest in carrying out their duties and the oath".

The judges, Seveali'i Panapa Ve'e and Nanai Pologa Ioane, were stood down after an investigation by the Judicial Complaints Committee into allegations involving a decision in a case they were involved with.

Fuimaono said while he was grateful the judges were sacked, it was still not clear if they should be charged.

The Associate Minister, Peseta Vaifou Tevaga, called a press conference on Tuesday to explain the controversial decision by the government's Tender Board to award his company the tender for the construction of the new Ti'avea airport.

He denied any conflict of interest was involved in the awarding of the contract saying the company's bid was under the name of one of his sons, who's a shareholder of the family company, which also includes his wife and another son.

Last week the Associate Minister for the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Peseta Vaifou Tevaga, was arrested and charged with forgery and falsifying documents.

His lawyer, Leulua'ialii Olinda Woodroofe says her client denies the charges and she has raised concerns over the way police and the Attorney General carried out their investigations.

The arrest comes a month after Peseta launched civil action against the Speaker of the House and two others regarding the dealings of an export company.