O le Ao o le Malo

O le Ao o le Malo of the Independent State of Samoa
Coat of arms of the Independent State of Samoa
Incumbent Tufuga Efi since 20 June 2007
Term length	Five years, no term limit
Inaugural holder	Malietoa Tanumafili II and Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole
Formation	1 January 1962

O le Ao o le Malo (Samoan: "Chieftain of the Government"; Ao is a title generally reserved for chiefs (matai), while malo means "government") is the Samoan head of state.

The position is described in Part III of the 1960 Samoan constitution. At the time the constitution was adopted, it was anticipated that future heads of state would be chosen from among the four Tama-a-Aiga "royal" paramount chiefs. However, this is not required by the constitution, so, for this reason, Samoa can be considered a republic rather than a constitutional monarchy (such as the United Kingdom). The government Press Secretariat describes O le Ao o le Malo as a "ceremonial president". However, as all of the heads of state, elected by the Fono, the country's parliament (which is itself almost entirely composed of customary chiefs), since independence have been one of the four chiefs, so it is ambiguous as to whether the country constitutes a parliamentary republic or a democratic elective monarchy.

The Samoan head of state, has since the country's independence enjoyed the title of Highness, as do the heads of the four paramount chiefly dynasties.

The current O le Ao o le Malo is Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi, who was elected to a five-year term on 16 June 2007. He was re-elected for further five-year term in July 2012.

When Samoa became independent on January 1, 1962, the two highest of the four paramount chiefs (Tama a Aiga) – Malietoa Tanumafili and Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole – were jointly named to the office for life by the 1960 Constitution. Each represented, respectively, the Malietoa and Tupua, the "two main family lineages" of Samoa. They were jointly known as O Ao o le Malo and individually as O le Ao o le Malo. Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole died a year later in 1963, leaving Malietoa Tanumafili as the sole holder of the office until his death in 2007, aged 94. His replacement, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi, had served two prior terms as Prime Minister of Samoa and is the elder son of Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole. He was elected by the Samoan Legislative Assembly (the Fono) as the third O le Ao o le Malo for a five-year term beginning on 20 June 2007 and again in July 2012 for a further five-year term.