Samoan general election, 2016

Samoan general election, 2016

4 March 2016

All 49 seats to the Fono (ended up as 50 due to a 10% female quota)   Majority party Minority party   Leader Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi Palusalue Fa’apo II Party HRPP TSP Last election 29 13 Seats won 35 2 Seat change 6 11 Popular vote 45,816 6,432 Percentage 57.3% 8.0%

Samoa
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Samoa
Constitution O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) Tufuga Efi Prime Minister Tuilaepa A. S. Malielegaoi Cabinet Legislative Assembly Speaker: L. L. P. Fosi Members Political parties Recent elections General: 2006 2011 2016 Administrative divisions Foreign relations
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General elections were held in Samoa on 4 March 2016. The main contesting parties were that of incumbent Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP); and the Tautua Samoa Party (TSP). The HRPP secured a landslide victory, winning 35 of the 49 elected seats in the Legislative Assembly, while 12 independents subsequently joined them, strengthening Samoa's one-party rule and preventing the TSP from obtaining the eight seats required for recognition as a parliamentary party.

Electoral system

The 49 members of the Fono were elected from constituencies, of which 35 were single-member constituencies and 7 were two-seat constituencies. All seats were elected using first-past-the-post voting; in the two-seat constituencies, voters cast two votes. Universal suffrage was introduced in 1990, permitting Samoan citizens over the age of 21 to vote in person. Candidates were required to be at least 21 years of age, heads of their families and resident of the country for at least three years prior the nomination date. Civil servants and people with mental illness were ineligible to stand as candidates. People convicted for bribery or an electoral offense, and people given a prison sentence of more than two years (including the death sentence), were also ineligible.^[1] Around 116,000 electors were registered for the election.^[2]

The Constitution Amendment Act 2013 ensures a minimum of 10 per cent of seats in parliament were reserved for women.^[3]

Campaign

A total of 164 candidates (24 women) contested the elections: 83 from HRPP, 23 from TSP and 60 independents. Four candidates including the prime minister and caretaker Minister of Justice, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, were elected unopposed. Capital Radio Samoa predicted that the ruling party would win the elections.

Conduct

Voting commenced at 8am (UTC+14:00) and closed at 15:00 on 4 March. A liquor ban was imposed with effect from the voting day and till 06:00 the next morning. No violence was reported during the voting.^[4]

Results

The provisional results showed the ruling Human Rights Protection Party leading with 47 seats out of a maximum of 49.^[5][6] In the previous elections held in 2011, it won 36 seats and the Tautua Samoa Party emerged as the second largest party with 13 seats. The only non-HRPP winners in these elections were TSP deputy leader Aeau Peniamina and Ili Setefano Ta'ateo.^[7] A number of government ministers lost their seats to newcoming MPs, as did opposition leader Palusalue Fa’apo II.^[8][9] Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi thanked the citizens for "the overwhelming vote of confidence in our vision for [Samoa]". Four women MPs were elected and a fifth, the female candidate with the highest percentage of votes yet to be elected, was added to meet the quota requirements of 10% female MPs. Independent Rosa Duffy-Stowers, who got the third highest vote share in the Gagaifomauga constituency,^[10] was selected increasing the parliament's strength to 50 members.^[7]

Olo Fiti Vaai, independent MP for Salega East, pledged to join the TSP at the restart of parliament.^[11]

References

Elections and referendums in Samoa
General elections	1923 1926 1929 1932 1935 1938 1948 1951 1954 1957 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016
Referendums	1961 1990