Samoa Awaits Parliamentary Election Results

Opposition FAST leader, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, is not surprised at her party’s success. (Wikipedia)

Samoa’s first opposition party in five years has managed to surprise the incumbent Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) by tying the number of seats won in the Samoan Parliament, called the Fono. With 25 seats each, the HRPP and newly founded Fa’atutua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Party must wait on an independent candidate and the winner of the last seat, Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio, to decide which party he will vote for.  

Samoa’s parliamentary elections happen every five years, but the 2021 election has resulted in a drastic break from previous elections. Incumbent Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has served as the prime minister for the past 23 years, while the HRPP has controlled the Fono for the past forty. Malielegaoi predicted before the election on April 9 that the HRPP would win “between 42 and 47” seats; however, the HRPP failed to maintain their two-thirds supermajority over the Fono from the 2016 election. While the HRPP still has much support from the island of Upolu, the FAST Party gained control of the island of Savai’i. At least five of the incumbent ministers lost their seats to FAST Party candidates, including Minister of Finance Sili Epa Tuioti and Minister of Agriculture Lopao’o Natanielu Mua. The traditionally HRPP-controlled district of Fa’asaleleaga—as well as other HRPP districts—switched to control of the FAST Party.  

The leader of the FAST Party, Sa’o Faapito Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, was formerly the deputy prime minister and a member of the HRPP for more than 30 years before leaving for the FAST Party in 2020. Mata’afa said she would consider forming a coalition with Ponifasio, who has recently been given the nickname “Kingmaker” because he has the deciding vote. Tuala claimed earlier this week that he would meet with the elders of his constituency before deciding which party to join, but as of April 14, he had not met with them for any discussion on the election. 

Much of the support for the FAST Party came from the Samoan diaspora in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. The FAST party received monetary support from Samoans in these countries, even though many were non-citizens and therefore ineligible to vote. According to Lealaitagomoa Tuialalago Fiaalii Anae Chan Sau, a Sydney resident and Mata’afa’s cousin, the donations were “one of the major factors in the election” by allowing FAST to expand its campaign and meet people more easily.  

The FAST Party’s success in the election has come as a surprise to many of the traditional leaders, but Renate Rivers, an editor for the Samoa Observer, claimed that there is a “different mood” in this election, where people are more ready to speak out against officials and policies they do not agree with. Rivers called the formation of the FAST party “an awakening” for Samoans who were unhappy with the HRPP government and wanted a change.