farmer turned politician from the rural Savai'i constituency of Vaisigano. Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi eventually became Head of State in 2007 under his Tafaifa title Tui Atua and Tama-a-Aiga titles Tupua Tamasese. From 1982 to 2021, the majority party in Parliament was the HRPP, save for a short period in 1985 when Va'ai Kolone leading a coalition of parties won the election but had to resign as MPs crossed the floor to the HRPP. Tofilau Eti Alesana regained the Prime Ministership after Vaai resigned. HRPP leader Tofilau Eti Alesana served as prime minister for nearly all of the period between 1982 and 1998, when he resigned due to health reasons. Tofilau Eti was replaced by his deputy, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi. Parliamentary elections were held in March 2001. The Human Rights Protection Party, led by Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, won 23 of the 49 seats in the 13th parliament. The Samoa Democratic United Party, led by Le Mamea Ropati, is the main opposition. Other political parties are the Samoa Party, the Christian Party, and the Samoa Progressive Political Party. The March 2006 elections were again won by the HRPP by an even larger margin than 2001. The HRPP won 32 seats to the SDUP's 10, with a third major party - the Samoa Party - not gaining any. The majority of independents joined the HRPP to increase the party's majority to 39 seats in the 49 seat parliament. Internal SDUP infighting led to the party's parliamentary members splitting. Leader Le Mamea Ropati was ousted in a coup led by deputy leader Asiata Dr Saleimoa Vaai, who then assumed leadership of the SDUP. Le Mamea and supporters became independents and thus reduced the SDUP's MPs to only 7. This was not enough to be formally recognised in the Fono as an official opposition party (they needed at least 8 MPs). Therefore, there was no official opposition party recognised in the Samoan parliament. In 2020, proposed constitutional changes, including the removal of customary land courts from the oversight of the Supreme Court, generated significant opposition. The passage of these laws caused the creation of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party in opposition. The new party gained the support of some prominent political figures, including Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, who defected from the HRPP to FAST and became its leader. During the 2021 Samoan general election, FAST won 25 seats, equal