Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt

Schmidt is the son of former Government Minister and founding member of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) Polataivao Fosi Schmidt. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly as a candidate for the HRPP at the 2006 election. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Deputy Speaker. He was re-elected at the 2011 election and served as Speaker from 2011 to 2016. He was again re-elected at the 2016 election and appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Scientific Research. In August 2017, Schmidt resigned as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and remained Member of Parliament as he had a lengthy legal battle with HRPP MP Peseta Vaifou Tevaga. He was subsequently charged with more than a hundred counts of forgery and theft. He was acquitted of all charges in June 2020. == Departure from HRPP and by-election ==

In May 2020 Schmidt was sacked from the HRPP by Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi after voting against proposed constitutional amendments. He subsequently announced he had resigned from the HRPP and that he would be forming a new political party to contest the 2021 election. On 30 June 2020, the Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee found that Schmidt had misled Parliament over the disputed price of a generator during a debate and recommended that he be suspended from Parliament for three months without pay. Schmidt apologised to the House and verbally resigned his seat. After some initial doubt, the verbal resignation was deemed to be effective, and a by-election was called. On 30 July Schmidt registered the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Party to contest in the 2021 Elections. He ran as a candidate for the party in the 2020 Gagaifomauga No. 3 byelection and was re-elected. ==Government==

Schmidt was re-elected during the 2021 Samoan general election. On 24 May 2021 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in the elected cabinet of Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa. The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding, and that FAST had been the government since 24 May. In January 2025 he was charged with 10 criminal offences, including harassment, making a false statement causing harm to a person's reputation, using insulting words to provoke a breach of the peace, conspiring to fabricate evidence and conspiring to pervert the course of justice. After refusing to resign he was sacked as a minister on 10 January. On 15 January Schmidt, acting as FAST chairman, expelled Mataʻafa, Deputy Prime Minister Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio, and three other cabinet ministers from the party. Schmidt was subsequently elected FAST leader, with Leota Laki Lamositele as his deputy. Prime minister (since 2025) During the 2025 snap election, Schmidt was re-elected in his Gaga‘ifomauga 3 constituency in a landslide, defeating Faʻaulusau Rosa Duffy-Stowers of the HRPP. FAST won 30 seats, allowing the party to form a government with Schmidt as prime minister. He assumed office on 16 September after the 18th Parliament was sworn in, becoming the eighth prime minister and only the third to be from Savaiʻi. Shortly after taking office, Schmidt departed for Auckland, New Zealand, to receive medical treatment. His stay was initially planned to be for a week, but was extended on multiple occasions. Schmidt's injury was not specifically disclosed; however, on 17 October, Deputy Prime Minister Onesemo announced that Schmidt was "unable to stand". Schmidt held meetings in Auckland with the representatives of other nations, despite his government advising him not to do so whilst on medical leave, especially without the presence of a senior official from the ministry of foreign affairs or the ministry of the prime minister. AI-enhanced images Shortly after Onesemo's announcement, Schmidt released an image of a meeting with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Schmidt, however, had the photo altered by AI to make it appear as if he was sitting in an armchair, when he was actually in a wheelchair. Neither Schmidt nor his government commented on the image, while the New Zealand delegation indicated that it had been modified. Upon his return, journalists from the Samoa Observer, the country's sole daily newspaper, and the BBC attempted to visit him at his residence in Siusega to confirm his presence in Samoa; however, several of his supporters denied them entry. Two of Schmidt's supporters reportedly assaulted Samoa Observer editor Shavleen Chand while police officers were on site. Chand subsequently filed a police complaint. At a press conference on 17 November, Schmidt announced that the Samoa Observer would be barred from covering government affairs. He claimed the outlet had tarnished his image while he was abroad, and instructed his cabinet to ignore its inquiries. Schmidt also accused the journalists of breaching his privacy and demanded that they refrain from visiting his residence. == Notes ==