The 2025 General Elections in Samoa will be held this Friday, August 29, (Thursday local time) when 101,981 registered voters are expected to front up at polling booths around the country to cast a vote for the 51 seats of the 18th Parliament.
Pre-polling begins on Wednesday in Samoa for those who have the thumbs up from the Electoral Commissioner to vote early.
Six women must become members of Parliament, either by winning at the polls or through a ten percent requirement based on percentages of votes cast during elections at each constituency.
As Samoa prepares for general elections, things have gone very quiet, especially on the social media front where all kinds of accusations have been bandied around, almost just for the sake of getting on social media!
There is a certain calm before the storm!
And the streets of Apia have emptied, except for regular residents and street hawkers.
Candidates have gone to their districts to be seen—some to palm off some cash or send out sudden handouts of bags of rice or cases of chicken.
Villages have been filled with returning residents, ready to make their sign next to their preferred candidate, but voters also have the option of casting their votes at any booth around the country, but they will be treated as “special votes” to be counted on Saturday.
By law, all election campaign banners and billboards have been dismantled and hidden from sight. It is also prohibited to wear clothes bearing party or candidates names or likeness’ in public during election hours—and certainly not at polling booths!
There’s a ban on offering any kind of kind of food or drink before or during voting hours, though candidate camps are “preparing” for post-election parties.
There have been no reports of any violence from Police around the country as election office workers start preparing to head out to constituencies armed with ballot boxes, plastic ones for the first time since elections started, along with voting papers and pens.
Samoa’s election chief has confirmed that 187 candidates will contest this year’s general election, representing six political parties and 46 independents vying for seats.
The governing FAST Party leads the field with 58 candidates, following close behind is the HRPP with 50.
The caretaker Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s Samoa United Party has 26 candidates, while the Samoa Labor Party has five.
Two smaller parties – the Tumua ma Pule Republican Reform Party and Constitutional Democratic Republic Party – will each contest one seat.
The front runners in the election are the caretaker government of Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa, former prime minister and leader of the Human Rights Protection Party, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and chairman of the Faatuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi Party Laaulialemalietoa Leauatea Schmidt.
Who the eventual winner will be will depend on the choice of the more than 101,000 voters heading to the polls on Friday.
Photo: RNZ Pacific
