Vote Approval

West Samoa Receives Vote Approval

The United Nations General Assembly’s Trusteeship ommittee has just adopted a Ten-Powers Draft resolution, commending to the New Zealand Government that it take sps, in consultation with a United Nations Plebiscite Com issioner, to organise a plebiscite in Western Samoa in May, 161, on the subject of self-government.

ie General Assembly recom -3s that the questions to be 3 should be: Do you agree with the Con stitution adopted by the Con stitutional Convention (held in Apia late in 1960) ?

Do you agree that on January 1, 1962, Western Samoa should become an Independent State on the basis of that Consti tution? e plebiscite would be on a basis niversal adult suffrage, and 3 be held under United Nations ■vision. The United Nations nissioner would report the re of the Trusteeship Council, i in turn would transmit the t to the General Assembly, her with its recommendations, ’ore the resolution of the ;eeship Committee was passed, Prime Minister of Western ia (the Hon, Fiame Mataafa) ;ssed the Committee. 3 voting on the resolution in issembly was 59 to nil—a truly rkable result, as the repre tives of both West and East ?reed. )re can be little doubt that questions will be answered ■helmingly in the affirmative tmoa.

lislative Assembly Elections

; electoral rolls for the coming 3ns to the Legislative Assembly I on December 9. a number of Samoan elec ts meetings of district repre tives agreed to nominate their r members as their repre tives. thus making elections tessary. In other Samoan rates, elections will have to jld. /ever, three Samoan elector 3id not nominate candidates, means that three months the general elections there lave to be elections for these individual or European elec roll. when closed, contained 770 names, or about half the er on the electoral roll of 1957. > been impossible to arouse the st of the Europeans—mainly born Europeans of mixed tage—and induce them to have

ii . „ . , This n k only one or perhaps two European elected members (instead of the present five) in the Legislative Assembly after independence.

However, a total of eight candidates has nominated for the European elections, including four of the five sitting members— Messrs. G. F. D. Betham, H. J Keil, F. C. F. Nelson, and P Plowman ' Mr. E. F. Paul, Minister of Finance and Customs, announced in early January that he would not stand for re-election (picture p 5). The four new candidates are Messrs T M Allen W F Betham A. M. Gurau and P. L M Morgan’ rnKm.t • • .

Two Cabinet ministers, L a o al ™? U . GalU i Tualau i^ le . i > are contesting elections in their districts, and in addition another ® am 9 a^ l ». Leumanuvae, at present the Minister of Health, has announced his retirement from political life.

There seems to be a tendency amongst the Samoans to elect younger men into politics.