26 Jan 2005

American Samoan governor expected to resubmit Treasurer's nomination

11:23 am on 26 January 2005

The governor of American Samoa, Togiola Tulafono, is expected to re-submit his cabinet nomination for Treasurer, to the senate which has rejected it once.

12 out of the 15 senators voted against the governor's submission to re-appoint Francis Leasiolagi to the position which he has held since 2003.

Mr Leasiolagi has been largely credited with restoring the government's financial accounting systems and getting annual audits for the government up to date.

Our correspondent, Monica Miller, says the governor is expected to lobby the senate to change its mind and approve the Treasurer's re-appointment, in part because funding is at stake.

"There's a lot riding on these financial reports that Mr Leasiolagi has been able to produce. The federal government is saying, hey, unless you get these all up and current, you're likely going to lose some of your federal funding."

Monica Miller says the governor is likely to begin lobbying this week.

Both the senate and the house of representatives have to approve the nomination.