Samoa's prime minister says he will no longer speak on overseas voting for Samoan citizens, nor discuss again the three-year residential qualification imposed on electoral candidates.
Both issues have been pushed by the opposition, the Samoa Democratic United Party.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi says his advice to the opposition is to stop trying to beat an animal that has long been dead.
In an interview with Samoa Broadcasting Corporation television, Tuilaepa said that government has not stopped overseas Samoans exercising their rights.
He says, as stated in the constitution, that overseas Samoan citizens may travel to Samoa to vote and stand for Parliament, provided they live there for three years.
The government's objection to voting from overseas is concerned with the expense and possible takeover of Parliament by non-locals who are greater in number.
The Prime Minister says electoral candidates need three years to serve and gain knowledge of their constituencies' needs.
SDUP has dismissed all those reasons.
