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RHD Public Enemy No.1 Cheered

Written by Pio Sioa
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY : PASS Leader Toleafoa Toailoa gives PM Tuilaepa birthday handshake at the end of protest rally. PM Gets Rousing Happy Birthday Cheer “Regardless of our differences, the Prime Minister is still our leader and we should respect his special day,” conceded the leader of the RHD protest movement, lawyer Toleafoa Solomona To’ailoa yesterday. The roughly 18 thousand protesters held little back when the Chairman of the People Against Switching Sides, PASS, called out to wish the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele, and RHD public enemy number one, happy birthday. The protesters even sang the PM the happy birthday song. Newsline yesterday confirmed with the PM’s Office that the Prime Minister was indeed celebrating his 63rd birthday on Monday, a day that one of the biggest protest marches the country has ever made gathered at Parliament grounds at Mulinuu. Toleafoa revealed to Newsline that somebody emailed the dates to him and he felt that it was fitting to respect the leader of the country on his special day. While PM Tuilaepa was heartily cheered, it remains to be seen if the resounding support of his most ardent critics will soften his resolve to press ahead with the RHD Bill. PASS leader Toleafoa Solomona To'ailoa that Monday’s protest march was as far as they can go. ‘What else can we do, realistically we have taken the issue as far as it goes legally. ‘We do have the court case coming up but where else can we go from there?” Monday’s protest march credits the persistence of the PASS movement, with a much bigger turnout this second time than last year’s march. Toleafoa, who reflected on how the support has grown from last year, applauded the huge turnout. “The march last year centered mainly around urban Apia, but as we saw with the protest on Monday, the support base has extended to the villages. It is an indication of how concern the people are against this RHD policy by government.” Toleafoa believed that the numbers could have been much bigger, but protesters from Savaii were unable to attend because the domestic ferry services were disrupted when the Lady Samoa was taken out of service. “I was really gutted by that, this was a deliberate act of denying the people their democratic rights. “How can Government say what is good for people in Apia is good for people in the rural villages and in Savaii, if these people’s rights are taken from the. “How can you claim to be righteous if you deny the rights of the same people you profess to support?” With all the momentum the RHD protest has generated and with Government adamant about staying the course, the future for PASS as far as the Chairman is concerned has to be looked into. “We are yet to meet to look at what lies ahead for PASS. Maybe it could remain as a monitoring unit of what will become of the switch when it is in place, but we have to meet and make decisions.” The RHD protest march easily rivals the Public Servants salary strike in 1981, that eventually led to the fall of the former Prime Minister Tupuola Efi’s Government, and saw the emergence of the Human Rights Protection Party reign that continues to this day. The Speaker of Parliament who addressed the gathering on behalf of the Prime Minister and members of the House, urged the protesters to give their trust and support to the selected representatives who represent them. He reassured the protesters that the Parliamentary select committee was still carefully reviewing the RHD Bill and once the report is tabled, it will be debated as usual by Parliament. The debate in Parliament is broadcast live on Radio SBC. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment

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PM Gets Rousing Happy Birthday Cheer