| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Fono / Legislative Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
31 March 2006 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Samoans went to the polls on 31 March 2006 to choose among 210 candidates, including 18 women.
In the last elections held in 2001, the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) won 23 seats, followed by the Samoan National Development Party (SNDP) with 13 seats, while the remainder went to independents and the Samoa United People Party (SUPP). In February 2004, the SNDP and seven independent members of parliament, who called themselves the Samoan United Independent Party (SUIP, see note), formed a new party called the Samoan Democratic United Party (SDUP), which became the main opposition force in the 2006 elections.
During the electoral campaign, the HRPP, which had been in power for 23 years, called on voters' support for its past achievements, focusing on the country's economic progress and the 6 per cent growth rate in 2005. The SDUP, led by Mr. Le Mamea Ropati, a former minister of education in the HRPP government, highlighted allegations of corruption in the government and the high cost of living. Other parties included the Samoa Christian Party (SCP), led by Samoa's first female party leader, Ms. Tuala Tiresa Malietoa, and the Samoa Party (SP) formed by former member of parliament Mr. Su'a Rimoni Ah Chong in September 2005.
A total of 79,284 of the country's 182,000 inhabitants registered to vote, down from 92,000 at the 2001 elections. The drop was explained by new regulations requiring a finger print and a voter photo ID card, introduced in order to prevent the fraud that had reportedly taken place in the 2001 elections, where some people reportedly registered more than once under different names.
The final results gave a resounding victory to the HRPP, which won 33 seats, 10 more than in the last elections, while its main rival, SDUP, took ten seats, and independents, six.
The newly-elected Legislative Assembly held its first session on 22 April 2006 and elected former Deputy Speaker, Mr. Tolofuaivalelei Falemoe Leiataua, of the HRPP as its new Speaker.
In July and August 2006, the Supreme Court invalidated the election results in three constituencies for corruption. Following a split within the SDUP leadership, the HRPP took all three seats when elections were re-run. However, in December 2006, the Supreme Court invalidated one of the results for a second time. After a member was finally elected in this constituency in February 2007, the HRPP held a total of 36 seats in parliament, the SDUP, seven, and there were six independents. The number of women remained unchanged at three.
Note:
The SUIP was not registered as a party prior to its integration to the SDUP. The SNDP ceased to exist in February 2005 and all members joined the SDUP. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 31 March 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
79'284
372
81'608 |
|
Notes
|
Each voter casts two votes in multi-member constituencies. |
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) |
83 |
42'156 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Samoan Democratic United Party (SDUP) |
44 |
21'303 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
62 |
14'937 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
February 2007 |
|
|
|
| Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) |
33
|
36 |
|
|
|
| Samoan Democratic United Party (SDUP) |
10
|
7 |
|
|
|
| Independents |
6
|
6 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
46
3
6.12%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Over 70 years
|
4
14
18
12
1
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Business/trade/industry employees, including executives |
18 |
| Civil/public servants/administrators (including social/development workers) |
7 |
| Economists |
4 |
| Farmers/agricultural workers (including wine growers) |
4 |
| Legal professions |
3 |
| Educators |
3 |
| Clerical occupations |
3 |
| Medical professions (doctors, dentists, nurses) |
3 |
| Engineers/PC experts |
2 |
| Bankers (including invest bankers)/accountants |
2 |
|
| Comments |
Note on 'Distribution of seats' in February 2007:
The statistics for February 2007 refer to the final distribution of seats, following new elections in three constituencies whose initial results had been invalidated by the Supreme Court.
Sources:
- http://elections.samoa.ws/index.cfm
- Legislative Assembly (01.02.2007, 01.01.2008) |
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
