Mataafa Threatens

To Ban Newspapers In Western Samoa

The continual criticism of the Western Samoan Government in the two weekly newspapers in the country has now irked Prime Minister Mataafa so much that he is talking of doing away with them. The two newspapers are the long - established Samoa Bulletin and the three-year-old Samoana.

IYJATAAFA vehemently criticised the two papers in a radio speech at the beginning of the year for what he called their “unfounded and false criticisms”. ( PIM, Feb. p. 127), and on July 16, he said in the Assembly in effect that if they did not shut up, the Assembly should shut them up.

The matter was raised when a member claimed the newspapers were “undermining authority” by publish ing letters from villagers which were not always true.

Mataafa said in the Assembly: “Our present legislation and set-up is going side by side with long standing custom and tradition, but the intro duction of newspapers is a newly in stituted venture in this country.

“There is provided in the Constitu tion the right of free expression of opinion in newspapers by citizens of our country, “However, if we feel newspapers conflict with custom or are not in the best interests of the country, it is up to this Assembly to do away with the existence of newspapers in our country.”

Outspoken Editorial

Mataafa’s latest outburst imme diately brought an outspoken editorial from Samoana whose managing editor, Mr. R. F. Rankin, is a natura lised Samoan of New Zealand birth.

Samoana said that if the Prime Minister’s statement was to be taken seriously, then Western Samoa’s Con stitution was not worth the paper it was written on.

“The primary purpose of the Con stitution is to protect the people from the alienation of their rights by op pressive laws and lawmakers,” the paper said. “Always the first step in the alienation of these rights is the suppression of the Press. Further more, any such step would be in de

fiance of the UN Charter of Human Rights.”

Samoana pointed out that Mataafa was wrong in saying that newspapers were something new in Samoa, as they had, in fact, been published off and on since before the Prime Minis ter was born. One had played such a significant part in the achievement of Samoan independence that it was “in gloriously banned by the administra tion”.

Samoana admitted that Western Samoa had occasionally been sub ject to “very poor journalism” over the past decade. But it thought this was a small price to pay for “the benefits derived to the country from the freedom of the Press to make en quiries and direct the spotlight of publicity on abuses that would other wise have never been revealed and to help the public form an intelli gently critical outlook without which no democracy could long survive.”