A'eau Peniamina

Who is A'eau Peniamina?

A'eau Peniamina is a matai and politician in Samoa. He is the Member of Parliament for the Falealupo electoral constituency on the island of Savai'i. He is a current member of the Tautua Samoa Party, a new political party formed in 2008 comprising independent MPs in opposition to the dominant Human Rights Protection Party.

He is a former Speaker of the Samoan Legislative Assembly and a former deputy leader of the Samoan Democratic United Party.

Peniamina was first elected to Parliament in the 1985 general election. He served as Speaker of the Assembly from 1988 to 1991, before losing his seat at the 1991 election.

He was re-elected to parliament in 2001, and again in 2006 as a candidate for the SDUP. Following a split in the SDUP, the party was no longer recognized, and he became an independent MP.

In 2005, Peniamina was accused of racism over remarks he made about Chinese immigrants but later moderated his comments.