Editing Human Rights Protection Party (section)

== History ==
[[Vaʻai Kolone]] and [[Tofilau Eti Alesana]] co-founded the party in May 1979 in opposition to the government of [[Tufuga Efi|Tupuola Efi]].<ref>{{cite book |author= Asofou So'o |editor= Roland Rich, Luke Hambly and Michael G. Morgan |title= Political Parties in the Pacific Islands |chapter= The establishment and operation of Samoa's political party system |year= 2005 |publisher= Pandanus Books |location= Canberra |pages= 189}}</ref> It governed the country from first winning power in 1982 to 2021, except for a brief period in 1986 and 1987 when internal differences forced it into coalition.

The two founders of the early party, Kolone and Alesana, both became [[Prime Minister of Samoa|Prime Ministers of Samoa]].

The [[U.S. State Department]]'s 2010 human rights report (published on 8 April 2011) stated that the Human Rights Protection Party remained the only officially recognized party in the [[Legislative Assembly of Samoa]]<ref>
[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eap/154400.htm 2010 Human Rights Report: Samoa, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, April 8, 2011]
</ref> (the Fono) as of that date.

After the [[April 2021 Samoan general election]] the HRPP refused to yield power to the newly elected government, triggering the [[2021 Samoan constitutional crisis]].<ref name="SOcrisis1">{{cite web |url= https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/84480 |title=Head of State suspends Parliament |publisher=Samoa Observer |author=Joyetter Feagaimaali'i |date=22 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |quote="Samoa has been thrown into a constitutional crisis"}}
</ref><ref name="RNZ-CC1">{{cite web |url= https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/443159/sitting-of-samoa-parliament-cancelled-constitutional-turmoil-deepens |title= Sitting of Samoa parliament cancelled; constitutional turmoil deepens |author= Jamie Tahana |publisher=[[RNZ]] |date=22 May 2021 |access-date= 22 May 2021 |quote= "with the country now well engulfed in a constitutional crisis"}}</ref> The Court of Appeal ruled against the HRPP on 23 July 2021, allowing the opposition to belatedly take power.<ref name=SOResolved>{{cite web |url=https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/87898 |title=F.A.S.T. declared new Government as appeal upheld |publisher=Samoa Observer |author=Lanuola Tusani Tupufia - Ah Tong |date=23 July 2021 |access-date=23 July 2021}}</ref>

In November 2022, MPs [[Ale Vena Ale]] and [[Tuʻuʻu Anasiʻi Leota]] resigned from the HRPP to become independents, saying they did not want to remain in a party led by a leader guilty of [[contempt of court]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/100404 |title=Tu'u'u and Ale resign from H.R.P.P. |publisher=Samoa Observer |author=Matai'a Lanuola Tusani T - Ah Tong |date=3 November 2022 |access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/478029/samoan-opposition-mps-quit-party-to-become-independents |title=Samoan opposition MPs quit party to become independents |work=RNZ |publisher=[[RNZ]] |date=4 November 2022|access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref>