About 60 years since independence and 39 years after the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) took over the reins as government, a new dawn is on the horizon in Samoa. For the uninitiated, voters in Samoa went to the polls Friday, April 9.
Preliminary results have the HRPP and the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) Party locked at 25 members each.
Independent MP Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio has emerged as the likely kingmaker to form a government in the 51-member Parliament.
The election results have already guaranteed a robust opposition party, an essential element of democracy that has been missing for a decade. It has been ten long years since Samoa has had an official opposition party recognised in Parliament.
This has reduced Samoa’s democracy to a one-party state where the HRPP has had total dominance over the country’s affairs, allowing Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr Sa’ilele Malielegaoi and his administration to do whatever they wanted, whenever and however.
But it is the possibility of the changing of the guard in government upon which all eyes are fixed.
We live in a country where many generations have known no other government other than the HRPP.
The last change of government was about 40 years to this day. The leadership of the late Tofilau Dr Eti Alesana, incumbent PM Tuilaepa and the HRPP government must be commended for a number of wonderful achievements.
As a nation, we have come a long way socially and economically. Infrastructure-wise, the transformation has been impressive.
From the days of dirt roads, no electricity, poor water supply, inadequate inter-island transportation, the one telephone at the Post Office where we used to stand in a queue to make an international call, to what we have today, we can only be grateful.
And we are. But having the same political party in power for about 40 years comes at a cost.
Experience the world over has shown where a party has enjoyed tremendous and unfettered power for such a period, the result is invariably blatant abuse, undemocratic practices, and suffering, especially for the poor and the most vulnerable.
Samoa is no exception. While PM Tuilaepa’s government would often espouse good governance, transparency and accountability, their behaviour was another matter.
The daily Samoa Observer newspaper became the unofficial opposition voice, reporting on leaked government documents, reports and countless audits.
Its reporters, including myself, can testify as to how the government refused to address questions surrounding its operations.
Questions about Samoa’s mounting foreign debt, aid, Polynesian Airlines (now Samoa Airways), the government’s cash cow called the Samoa International Finance Authority (SIFA), customary lands, issues of national identity and others have been bubbling beneath the surface for many years. For a small country, there was never a dull moment.
We’ve had countless scandals and tragedies ranging from a political assassination, to the sale of Samoan passports, and natural and man-made disasters, among others.
Meanwhile, the HRPP government was becoming extremely controlling, to the point where it had a hand in every area of life in Samoa. The government reached into people’s cars with the road switch.
It changed the time so that Samoa now has daylight savings, even though no one understands why.
It meddled with village laws, selected national rugby teams, interfered with family matters all the way down to the cans of mackerel people use for fa’alavelave (traditional obligations).
The Constitution was changed at will. From laws that impacted on freedom of religion and freedom of expression to the denigration and demolition of Samoa’s traditional structure, including the role o
