Six women must be in Samoa Parliament
27th August, 2025
The Appeals Court ruling requires a minimum of six women to be elected to Samoa’s Parliament following the general election if there are 51 seats in parliament. “The Court has already made its decision that there must be six (6) women representatives in Parliament after the general election,” said Electoral Commissioner, Tuiafelolo John Stanley. “That is what the law requires, that there must be six women members. If, after the election, six women win seats from six constituencies, then the 10 per cent requirement of women in parliament has been met. But if it falls below that, the law will be applied.”
The mandate originates from a constitutional amendment introduced in 2013, which establishes a minimum threshold of 10 per cent female representation in the Legislative Assembly. Should fewer than six women secure seats through the general election, the law provides for the appointment of additional women candidates who received the highest number of votes to meet the quota.
Tuiafelolo explained that this mechanism is only triggered when the quota is not met through direct election results. In such instances, the Electoral Commission is responsible for appointing the necessary candidates to ensure compliance with the law. In 2021, the application of the rule led to the addition of a contested seat, sparking a temporary political impasse. Courts ultimately clarified the implementation of the law, and that ruling continues to inform current electoral procedures.
Meanwhile, Samoan voters have begun casting their votes today in one day of pre-polling before the general polling on Friday. There are over 1,000 voters registered for today’s pre polling from the 101,000 registered voters. Voting comes after an intensive five weeks of campaigning that saw a shifted level of public imaging and engagement of voters by the main political parties that travelled the length of the two main islands, Upolu and Savaii as well as Manono Island.
Samoa witnessed history after the 2021 general elections when the newly formed Faatuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) political party, ousted the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) that had been in power for 40 years. However, a division within the FAST party in January resulted in a bitter split that saw two failed motions of no confidence against a minority government, and finally the fall of government when its budget was rejected before the first reading and prompted an early election when parliament was dissolved in early June 2025.
The Electoral Commissioner Toleafoa Tuiafelolo John Stanley observes that this election has brought a lot of interest both locally and internationally. He said the world is watching with interest, especially since it’s the first time that the number of political parties and candidates have increased, but also the influence of the diaspora in Samoa’s politics.
The FAST Party that has a firm support base with the Samoan diaspora, promised in 2021 to allow the qualified overseas Samoan voters to vote from overseas, but the law has yet to be passed when parliament was dissolved. Already, groups of overseas Samoan voters have been arriving this week with the latest, a group of Samoan voters from American Samoa.
The seat for Faleata 2 is uncontested after the court decisions that disqualified two candidates and making way for one of the caretaker Ministers to be elected unopposed. This leaves 189 candidates to contest the remaining 50 seats. Of the 50 constituencies, there are 401 polling booths to cater for 101,981 registered voters.
There is also provision for Special votes allocated for voters to vote from any booth and these special votes will only be counted at the final count.
The Electoral Office is providing at least 5 to 6 polling booths for larger constituencies to avoid long queues given the 6 hours (9.00am – 3.00pm) for people to cast their votes.
This week saw quite a number of Samoans from overseas arriving to vote and to support to their political parties. Most of them paid their way to travel to Samoa months ago as they were required to complete their registration as voters in Apia.
Samoans from Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and American Samoa’s keenness to have a voice in the election of a new Government to lead the country is evident in their presence here.
There are two public holidays, Thursday and Friday for Samoans to prepare for the election, and for people to travel to Savaii and outlying villages to avoid the last-minute rush as noted in the 2021 elections.
The two major parties in the race are FAST – 59, and HRPP – 50 both with the highest number of candidates followed by SUP with 26, Samoa Labour Party with 6 and the highest ever number of Independent candidates at 43.
The smaller parties such as the Constitution Democratic Republican Party (CDRP), Tumua ma Pule Republican Reform Party (TMRRP) are fielding one candidate each.