Chance for Democracy

The Region

Western Samoa

By Ulafala Aiavao

WESTERN Samoa plans to hold a referendum in October on the issue of allowing everyone on or over the age of 21 years to vote in

general elections, currently a privilege

only of the chiefs ( niatai ). The referen dum, if approved by the Matai dominated Parliament, will, however, not question the right of chiefs only to stand in general elections. But the referendum will be open to everyone aged 21 years and over.

The 47-seat Western Samoa Fono (Parliament) consists of 45 seals reserved for niatai who are elected by niatai. The other two seats are for people of non- Samoan ancestry who are elected under

universal suffrage by voters aged 21

years and over and registered under the Individual Voter’s Roll.

The referendum “is a delicate issue", said Finance Minister and Cabinet

spokesman Tuilaepa Sailele when

announcing the plan last month. If

accepted by Par liament, universal suffrage will com

pletely transform

Western Samoan politics and re volutionise an electoral system

that currently

allows only 11 per cent of the

population to

vote. In the 1988

general elections,

for example, only

8.7 per cent of the population of 160,000 voted; 12,110 matai andf 1955 Individual Voters. The de bate for universal suffrage has been going on since the

1970 s although

there have been differences on the voting age, some wanting 21 years, some 25 and some 30.

Sailele acknow

ledged the prob

lems created by the presence of matai with multi

pie title holders. This year’s count showed that 18,000 matai hold 24,000 titles. More titles are being created or bestowed. The rate is faster than that of population growth. In 1961, a year be fore independence, there was one matai title to every 24 people. In 1981 the ratio was 1:11, and for the 1988 general elections it was 1:8. The ratio drops to 1:4 if those below the age of 16 years are not counted.

The current electoral system causes the abuse of the matai system. In West ern Samoa, only matai can participate in elections for the 45 seats filled by the

indigenous people. Only a matai can

vote and only a matai can stand for elec tions. It is not a democracy of one man one vote, but it is a system of one matai title one vote. A man or woman with 10 matai titles, for example, can vote 10 times in one general election. The num ber of registered matai titles has in creased from 4700 in 1961 to 20,600 for the 1988 general elections. Some chiefs hold seven titles, enabling them to vote

seven times.

The number of multiple title holders have increased dramatically in recent years, so has the number of people hold ing the same title. The Registrar of the Lands and Titles Court, Galumalemana Netina, said one recent case involved a matai who wanted to share his title with 117 other people. Another tried to give his title to 153 others. The record is held by a chief who tried to share his title with 200 people. This record attempt was challenged and the number of peo ple was reduced.

As they run out of chiefly titles, the West Samoans simply create new ones.

One new title being challenged by the Lands and Titles Court is Ofa, a name many Samoans remember as that of the killer cyclone which hit them last Febru ary. Other new titles being challenged are Apaau Vaalele (aeroplane wings), Samala (hammer), Vaiaga (cave pool), Tatatuli (knee tapping), Tee (defy), and Luka (Luke). Titles are being crosscheck ed with a 1955 register listing all ancient

Samoan titles.

Winning votes

is not all that is behind the flood of titles in West ern Samoa. In many cases titles are bestowed as reward for good deeds. For exam ple, Samoans liv ing overseas send back to their families at home WSS7O million a year, half the

country’s annual

budget. To re ward their family members abroad, those at home give them a chief ly title. While it is illegal to bestow title on someone living outside the country, cere monies still take place and the ti tles continue to be

exported. People

in Western Samoa are also made chiefs as an ack

nowledgment of

their services. They in turn are sought to help families during weddings, funer als and fundraising. There was even a case where a four-year-old boy was given a title.

The alarming increase in the number of matai is having an effect on tradition al resources and village life. Take the sharing of land, for example, where matai have the first say. While in the past land and other property might be the responsibility of on e matai, today the same property can be the subject of dis pute among several people holding the

same chiefly title. Village-level leadership

has also been weakened by the presence of too many chiefs in one village. There are so many chiefs these days that when they meet in one village some remain outside the meeting house because all the customary seats have been taken up.

October’s referendum will also seek opinion on an enlarged parliament, whether numerically, or from unicamer al to bicameral. A bicameral system is likely to involve a lower House of Repre sentatives and an Upper House of Pule and Tumua comprised of customary

groupings of people.

An example of the weaknesses of Western Samoa’s electoral system was the case involving Muliagatele Gina Moore, a woman who beat the system. She is the only person in Western Samoa to have legally voted in the Individual Voter’s roll, while her husband, who holds a matai title, was voting in the separate roll for matai.

How did she do it? Using the name Gina Moore, she was listed on the Indi vidual Voter’s roll to help elect two MPs to represent people of non-Samoan ancestry. She was removed from that roll when her husband registered his matai title because no one can vote as an Indi vidual Voter if they hold a registered matai title or are married to someone with a registered matai title.

So Moore was stripped of her right to vote.

She sued and lost in the Magistrate’s Court in January 1982. She sued again, this time in the Supreme Court. In a landmark decision the Supreme Court not only overruled the lower court, it declared the electoral system unconstitu tional because it discriminated against voters. A subsequent Court of Appeal decision in August 1982 reversed the Supreme Court ruling, but not before Gina Moore managed to vote on the In dividual Voter’s roll while her husband cast his vote as a matai.

Today Gina Moore holds the title Muliagatele which she hopes to use for the first time as a voter in the February election where she will vote as a chief.

“It’s about time,” she said, when she heard of the planned referendum. □