Council of Deputies(Acting) Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi Independent An indirect election was held in Samoa to elect the O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) on 16 June 2007[1] after the death of the country's head of state for four and a half decades, Malietoa Tanumafili II, in May 2007.

Although power is vested in the prime minister and their cabinet, the head of state can dissolve the Legislative Assembly, and no act can become law without their signature.

[3] The election was triggered by the death of Malietoa Tanumafili II in May 2007, who served as the sole head of state of Samoa since Tupua Tamasese predeceased him in 1963.

[6][7] Per the Constitution, the two members of the Council of Deputies at the time, Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi and Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II, served as acting co-heads of state until a successor would be elected.

[9] A former prime minister and son of Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole, he was previously the opposition leader and became a member of the Council of Deputies in 2004.